Sociocultural and Economic Disparities in Physical Therapy Utilization Among Insured Older Adults With Rheumatoid Arthritis
Authors' conclusion
We found sociocultural and economic disparities in PT utilization in older adults with RA.
Study context
- Population
- Older Medicare beneficiaries with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) (3 diagnosis codes or 2 codes plus a DMARD claim), 2012–201675.1% female
- Participants
- 106,470 beneficiaries
- Exposure
- Race and ethnicity and dual Medicare/Medicaid coverage vs Medicare only
- Outcome
- PT utilization (CPT code for PT evaluation)
Methodological detailsannual cross-sectional analyses 2012–2016, Medicare enrollment data and fee-for-service claims, logistic regression, interaction terms
- Annual cross-sectional analyses 2012–2016
- Medicare enrollment data and fee-for-service claims
- Logistic regression
- Interaction terms
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
PT utilization
Adjusted odds ratio (95% CI)
Non-Hispanic Blackvs Non-Hispanic White
0.77(0.73–0.82)
Hispanicvs Non-Hispanic White
0.92(0.87–0.98)
Dual coveragevs Medicare only
0.44(0.43–0.46)
- Used physical therapy (PT) in a given year
- 9.6-12.5%
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Original publication
Sociocultural and Economic Disparities in Physical Therapy Utilization Among Insured Older Adults With Rheumatoid Arthritis. J Rheumatol. Published 1 August 2023. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →