Resource use: healthcare visits for atrial fibrillation
| Visit type | Initiation phase (n=310) | Maintenance phase (n=769) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| N (%) of patients | Mean number of visits per patient (SD) | N (%) of patients | Mean number of visits per patient-year (SD) | |
| Primary care visits | ||||
| Patients with any primary care visit* | 253 (82%) | 2.4 (2.2) | 613 (80%) | 1.5 (1.8) |
| GP visits | 250 (81%) | 2.3 (2.1) | 581 (76%) | 1.4 (1.7) |
| GP nurse visits | 45 (15%) | 0.2 (0.5) | 173 (22%) | 0.2 (0.3) |
| Secondary care visits | ||||
| Patients with any secondary care visit* | 196 (63%) | 1.1 (1.2) | 427 (56%) | 0.8 (1.0) |
| Outpatient clinic | 176 (57%) | 0.8 (0.9) | 384 (50%) | 0.6 (0.9) |
| Day care unit | 12 (4%) | 0.0 (0.2) | 52 (7%) | 0.0 (0.2) |
| Emergency department visit | 26 (8%) | 0.1 (0.5) | 82 (11%) | 0.0 (0.2) |
| Other secondary care visit | 3 (<1%)† | 0.0 (0.1) | 2 (<1%)‡ | 0.0 (0.0) |
| Inpatient admissions | 101 (33%) | 0.4 (0.7) | 139 (18%) | 0.1 (0.3) |
| Mean (SD) length of hospital stay (days)—patients admitted | 5.6 (7.8) days, initiation period (n=101) | 6.4 (9.6) days per patient-year (n=139) | ||
| Mean (SD) length of hospital stay (days)—all patients | 2.2 (6.1) days, initiation period (n=310) | 0.6 (2.2) days per patient-year (n=769) | ||
*Note: this is not a total of the different types of visit shown below—visit types are not mutually exclusive; patients may have made more than one type of visit.
†‘Other’ (not specified) ×2, psychiatry home visit ×1.
‡‘Other’ (not specified) ×1, HF nurse visit ×1.