Table 2
Sociodemographic characteristics of total combined adult patient sample, for patients aged ≥65 and < 65 years at the patient level
Total combined adult patient sample
(n = 5660)≥65 years old patients
(n = 897)< 65 years old patients
(n = 4763)Comparisona between
≥65 years old and < 65 years oldSource COAST 3299 (58.3%) 421 (46.9%) 2878 (60.4%) χ2 = 17.7 df = 1 p < 0.0001 O-COAST 2361 (41.7%) 476 (53.1%) 1885 (39.6%) Number of encounters per patient 1 4898 (86.5%) 777 (86.6%) 4121 (86.5%) χ2 = 1.1 df = 2 p = 0.59 2 556 (9.8%) 93 (10.4%) 463 (9.7%) 3+ 206 (3.7%) 27 (3.0%) 179 (3.8%) New Patient (n = 4845) Yes 318 (6.6%) 26 (3.3%) 292 (7.2%) χ2 = 22.6 df = 1 p < 0.0001 No 4527 (93.4%) 771 (96.7%) 3756 (92.8%) Sex (n = 5554) Male 2320 (41.8%) 367 (41.4%) 1953 (41.8%) χ2 = 0.08 df = 1 p = 0.77 Female 3234 (58.2%) 519 (58.6%) 2715 (58.2%) Age 18–24 334 (5.9%) – 334 (7.0%) 25–54 3386 (59.8%) – 3386 (71.1%) 55–64 1043 (18.4%) – 1043 (21.9%) 65–74 619 (10.9%) 619 (69.0%) – 75–84 232 (4.1%) 232 (25.9%) – 85+ 46 (0.8%) 46 (5.1%) – BMI (n = 5457) Mean (range; SD) 26.9 (14.6–52.3; 5.2) 27.2 (16.7–48.9; 5.1) 26.9 (14.6–52.3; 5.2) t = 1.33 df = 87 p = 0.19 Comorbidities Cancer 63 (1.1%) 28 (3.1%) 35 (0.7%) χ2 = 70.9 df = 1 p < 0.0001 Cardiovascular 493 (8.7%) 217 (24.2%) 276 (5.8%) χ2 = 334.1 df = 1 p < 0.0001 Diabetes 171 (3.0%) 62 (6.9%) 109 (2.3%) χ2 = 37.6 df = 1 p < 0.0001 Gastrointestinal 92 (1.6%) 24 (2.7%) 68 (2.7%) χ2 = 11.6 df = 1 p = 0.0006 Genitourinary 40 (0.7%) 9 (1.0%) 31 (0.7%) χ2 = 1.4 df = 1 p = 0.2 Musculoskeletal 288 (5.1%) 129 (14.4%) 159 (3.3%) χ2 = 177.3 df = 1 p < 0.0001 Neurological 52 (0.9%) 22 (2.5%) 30 (0.6%) χ2 = 19.4 df = 1 p < 0.0001 Psychological 129 (2.3%) 18 (2.0%) 111 (2.3%) χ2 = 0.6 df = 1 p = 0.4 Respiratory 113 (2.0%) 27 (3.0%) 86 (1.8%) χ2 = 5.8 df = 1 p = 0.02 Other 154 (2.7%) 28 (3.1%) 126 (2.7%) χ2 = 0.5 df = 1 p = 0.5 # Comorbidity Categories 0 4413 (78.0%) 484 (54.0%) 3929 (82.5%) χ2 = 311.6 df = 5 p < 0.0001 1 791 (14.0%) 230 (25.6%) 561 (11.8%) 2 291 (5.1%) 108 (12.0%) 183 (3.8%) 3 99 (1.8%) 46 (5.1%) 53 (1.1%) 4 33 (0.6%) 14 (1.6%) 19 (0.4%) 5 or more 33 (0.6%) 15 (1.7%) 18 (0.4%) Smoking statusc (n = 2987) Never smoked 1796 (60.1%) 262 (55.0%) 1534 (61.1%) χ2 = 75.2 df = 3 p < 0.0001 Used to smoke 834 (27.9%) 194 (40.8%) 640 (25.5%) Smoke occasionally 142 (4.8%) 7 (1.5%) 135 (5.4%) Smoke regularly 215 (7.2%) 13 (2.7%) 202 (8.0%) Physical activityc (n = 2986) Never 918 (30.7%) 213 (44.8%) 705 (28.1%) χ2 = 62.5 df = 5 p < 0.0001 Once a week 571 (19.1%) 86 (18.1%) 485 (19.3%) 2–3 x per week 869 (29.1%) 95 (20.0%) 774 (30.8%) 4–6 x per week 459 (15.4%) 45 (9.5%) 414 (16.5%) Once a day 121 (4.1%) 26 (5.5%) 95 (3.8%) > Once a day 48 (1.6%) 11 (2.3%) 37 (1.5%) Occupation (n = 5314) Employed 3791 (71.3%) 161 (18.8%) 3630 (81.4%) Home Duties 375 (7.1%) 40 (4.7%) 335 (7.5%) Unemployed 36 (0.7%) – 36 (0.8%) Retired 919 (17.3%) 656 (76.6%) 263 (5.9%) Student 193 (3.6%) – 193 (4.3%) Patients referred fromb: GP/FP (n = 4217) 280 (6.6%) 64 (9.2%) 216 (6.1%) χ2 = 4.0, df = 1, p = 0.046 Other DC (n = 4237) 300 (7.1%) 57 (8.3%) 243 (6.9%) χ2 = 1.5, df = 1, p = 0.22 Patient (n = 4715) 2421 (51.4%) 366 (51.1%) 2055 (51.4%) χ2 = 0.01, df = 1, p = 0.92 Other (n = 4200) 917 (21.8%) 124 (18.4%) 793 (22.5%) χ2 = 2.2, df = 1, p = 0.14 aPearson χ2 test for categorical variables, t-test for means, all accounting for clustering within primary sampling unit of chiropractor
bIndication of multiple referral sources was possible
cSmoking Status and Physical Activity were collected on half of the encounter forms by design