Descriptive statistics and bivariate analysis of individual characteristics, study population (n=2 11 738)
| Lowest 90% low-cost older patients (n=1 90 559) | Top 10% high-cost older patients (n=21 179) | P | |
| Sex (%) | <0.001 | ||
| Men | 87 659 (46.0%) | 11 959 (56.5%) | |
| Women | 102 900 (54.0%) | 9220 (43.5%) | |
| Age in 5-year intervals (%) | < 0.001 | ||
| 65–69 years | 35 892 (18.8%) | 4132 (19.5%) | |
| 70–74 years | 42 550 (22.3%) | 5703 (26.9%) | |
| 75–79 years | 36 172 (19.0%) | 4798 (22.7%) | |
| 80–84 years | 30 556 (16.1%) | 3424 (16.2%) | |
| 85–89 years | 25 546 (13.4%) | 2137 (10.1%) | |
| 90+years | 19 843 (10.4%) | 985 (4.6%) | |
| Marital/partner status (%) | < 0.001 | ||
| Married/cohabitant/partner | 95 170 (50.1%) | 11 638 (55.0%) | |
| Single/unmarried | 12 063 (6.4%) | 1440 (6.8%) | |
| Divorced/separated | 29 117 (15.3%) | 3507 (16.6%) | |
| Widow/widower | 53 545 (28.2%) | 4570 (21.6%) | |
| Educational level (%) | < 0.001 | ||
| Primary school | 58 428 (31.0%) | 6585 (31.4%) | |
| High school* | 90 710 (48.2%) | 10 442 (49.8%) | |
| Higher education<4 years | 29 188 (15.5%) | 2908 (13.9%) | |
| Higher education≥4 years | 9861 (5.2%) | 1051 (5.0%) | |
| Index of municipal centrality (%) | 0.064 | ||
| Least central municipalities | 33 309 (17.5%) | 3847 (18.2%) | |
| Middle central municipalities | 81 857 (43.1%) | 9070 (42.9%) | |
| Most central municipalities | 74 732 (39.4%) | 8241 (38.9%) | |
Bivariate analysis: X2 test of independence.
*Includes high school and vocational school.