Table 2

Characteristics of Patients in the Study

Variables	All Patients N = 765	Multiple Provider Continuity Level
Variables	All Patients N = 765	High n = 358 (>74%)	Moderate n = 334 (30%–74%)	Low n = 68 (<30%)
Sociodemographic characteristics
Women, %	48	51.7	48.8	32.4^a
Completed university, %	14.2	13.8	15.3	11.8^b
Mean age, y	66.7	67.1	67.1	62.1^a
Mean ambulatory visits, No.	10.7	9.0	12.9	10.9^c
With high morbidity (RUB 4 or 5), %	40	34.6	45.2	42.7^a
SF-12 PCS, mean score (range 0–100)	39.6	40.9	39.4	39.1^b
Known provider continuity (KPC)
With high multiple provider (MP) continuity, %	47.2	100	…	…
With high personal provider (PP) continuity, %	19.6	41.6	0	0^a
Continuity-related variables from questionnaires
Relational continuity
Mean score^d	8.5	8.9	8.4	7.5
With high continuity, %	41.7	43.1	40.9	38.7^b
Interpersonal communication
Mean score^d	8.7	9.0	8.9	8.0
With high communication, %	46.5	47.4	46.6	41.3^b
Coordination within the clinic
Mean score^d,^e	8.1	8.3	8.1	8.0
With high coordination, %^e	24.6	27.5	23.1	15.8^b
Coordination with specialists
Mean score^d,^f	7.9	8.4	8.1	6.9
With high coordination, %^f	39.4	41.9	36.8	40.0^b
Overall coordination
Mean score^d	9.0	9.3	9.0	8.4
With high coordination, %	58.4	43.9	36.5	31.7^a
High combined continuity score, %	34.0	37.3	31.4	30.0^a
With family physician, %	99.1	99.1	99.7	95.5^a

ANOVA = analysis of variance; RUB = Resource Utilization Band; SF-12 PCS = Short Form-12 physical component summary score.
↵a Tested and found significant (P ≤.05) by ANOVA or χ².
↵b Tested and not found significant (P >.05) by ANOVA or χ².
↵c Tested and not found significant by negative binomial regression.
↵d Means rescaled from 0–10, with 0 indicating low and 10 indicating high continuity/communitation/coordination; not tested statistically because distribution with ceiling effect.
↵e These results apply for 232 patients who had other physicians or nurses who worked in their physician’s office and played an important role in their care (30% of patients in ambulatory clinics); 109 of these patients had high, 104 moderate, and 19 low KPC-MP.
↵f These results apply for 447 patients who were referred to a specialist or education center for 1 of the 2 problems targeted by this study (diabetes, cardiovascular disease) (58.4% of patients in ambulatory clinics); 198 of these patients had high, 209 moderate and 40 low KPC-MP.