ArticleCMAJ open
A population profile of older adults with prescription encounters with nurse practitioners and family physicians in Ontario: a descriptive retrospective cohort study.
Article in CMAJ open. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed, 3 citations in OpenAlex.
- Contributions of Specialized Nurses to Medication Management for Older People in Home Care: A Mixed-Method Systematic Review.Risk management and healthcare policy · 2025Review
- Recent Updates on Risk and Management Plans Associated with Polypharmacy in Older Population.Geriatrics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundCompared with patients in family physician practices, there is a poor understanding at a population level of patients in nurse practitioner practices. The study aim was to use Ontario administrative databases to identify the sociodemographic characteristics and comorbidities of patients aged 65 years and older who were prescribed medications by nurse practitioners and family physicians between 2000 and 2015.
methodsThis population-based descriptive retrospective cohort study included patients 65 years of age and older with Ontario Health Insurance Plan eligibility and at least 1 prescription encounter with a nurse practitioner or family physician during the study period. Prescription identification of patients permitted their characterization by age, sex, geographical location, rurality, neighbourhood income and comorbidities. Patients were categorized into 3 provider groups on the basis of the percentage of prescription encounters with nurse practitioners versus family physicians.
resultsIn 2015, patients in the study cohort with prescriptions by nurse practitioners (
interpretationThe patient characteristic with the highest variability between providers was geographic residence in the province. Elucidating patterns of care is critical for primary care policy and our results provide baseline data for future health care planning.
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Registered trials
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