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Table 1 Population description (N = 21,819)

From: Incidence of and predictors for antiseizure medication gaps in Medicare beneficiaries with epilepsy: a retrospective cohort study

  

Median or N (interquartile range or %)

Age

 

58 (46–71)

Female sex

 

10,914 (50%)

Racea

White

17,809 (84%)

Black

2510 (12%)

Hispanic

670 (3%)

Asian

257 (1%)

Dual eligible for Medicaid

 

13,717 (63%)

Rural ZIP code

 

6231 (29%)

Reason for entitlement

Disability

13,229 (61%)

Age

8581 (39%)

End-stage renal disease

42 (< 1%)

Region

South

8230 (39%)

Midwest

5644 (27%)

Northeast

4075 (19%)

West

3225 (15%)

Any neurologist visit, 2015

15,133 (69%)

Any primarily epilepsy visit, 2015

17,203 (79%)

Unique medications (No.), 2015

8 (5–12)

Unique ASMs (No.), 2015

1 (1–2)

ASM proportion of days covered (%), 2014–2015

92% (81–96%)

Older generation ASM, 2015

12,517 (57%)

Brand name ASM, 2015

5430 (25%)

Total part D out of pocket cost, 2015

$66 ($0–$301)

Epilepsy typeb

Focal

6046 (28%)

Generalized

4270 (20%)

Both

2169 (10%)

Neither

9334 (43%)

Refractory epilepsy, 2014–2015

 

4445 (20%)

Epileptogenic neurological conditions, 2014–2015

Ischemic stroke

2160 (10%)

Traumatic brain injury

563 (3%)

Intracranial hemorrhage

516 (2%)

Tumor

454 (2%)

Meningoencephalitis

109 (< 1%)

Cardiac arrest

49 (< 1%)

Dementia

 

1762 (8%)

Depression

 

6250 (29%)

Charlson comorbidity index, 2015

0

12,938 (59%)

1–3

7968 (37%)

4–6

788 (4%)

7+

125 (1%)

Acute care visits, 2015c

0

17,005 (78%)

1

3267 (15%)

2+

1547 (7%)

Primary ASM prescriber, 2015d

Neurologist

11,242 (59%)

Epileptologist

430 (2%)

Primary care physician

6872 (36%)

Female

4315 (23%)

Years since med school

27 (19–34)

Physician extender

1832 (9%)

D.O.

1515 (8%)

# visits this patient, 2015

2 (1–3)

  1. ASM Antiseizure medication
  2. aRace: This is how Medicare classifies race, with Hispanic as a separate category without distinguishing non-Hispanic White versus Hispanic White versus non-Hispanic Black
  3. bEpilepsy type: at least one International Classification of Diseases code for focal and/or generalized epilepsy
  4. cAcute care visits: we excluded beneficiaries with epilepsy-related acute care visits, thus this variable refers to any non-epilepsy acute care visit
  5. dPrimary ASM prescriber: the single physician who prescribed the greatest number of antiseizure medication prescriptions and pill days in 2015. For the main definition, ‘epileptologist’ was defined as at least 25% of a provider’s Evaluation/Management codes being primarily for epilepsy, though we performed several sensitivity definitions of this (less restrictive: at least 10%; more restrictive: at least 25% plus at least 25 visits in the year). Physician extender was defined as Nurse Practitioner or Physician Assistant
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BMC Neurology

ISSN: 1471-2377

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