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68 <strong>Pay</strong> <strong>for</strong> <strong>Quality</strong> KCE Reports 118<br />

The change was statistically significant <strong>for</strong> all indicators except <strong>for</strong> achieving cholesterol<br />

target. Women have not benefitted equally from the introduction of the new contract.<br />

Pre-contract women were as likely as men to have recording of HbA1c, blood pressure,<br />

serum creatinine and cholesterol. Post contract women were less likely to have HbA1c,<br />

serum creatinine and cholesterol recorded. 128<br />

In one historical comparison study, be<strong>for</strong>e-after time point and one historical<br />

comparison study with multiple time points, the authors looked at ethnic differences in<br />

the quality of certain indicators of diabetes care, including the achievement of HbA1c<br />

targets.<br />

In a first study was found that Hba1c levels reduced over time <strong>for</strong> all ethnic groups but<br />

the magnitude of the improvement appeared to differ between ethnic groups even after<br />

adjusting <strong>for</strong> the effects of age, gender, years since the diagnosis, practice size and<br />

deprivation of the area where the patient lives and the area where the practice is<br />

located. A significant reduction between the pre- and post-contract measurement of<br />

HbA1c was found <strong>for</strong> the Whites but not <strong>for</strong> the Blacks and South Asians, resulting in a<br />

widening of the existing ethnic disparities in care <strong>for</strong> Blacks and South Asians. The<br />

introduction of the pay-<strong>for</strong>-per<strong>for</strong>mance was associated with a significantly greater<br />

improvement in women than in men. The impact on HbA1c was not found to vary<br />

significantly with the neighbourhood deprivation. 157<br />

In a second study with a similar methodology but on a smaller database (adjusting <strong>for</strong><br />

the effects of age, gender, deprivation level and the clustering of patients in practices),<br />

Millet et al. (2007) found that the proportion of patients reaching HbA1c targets<br />

increased significantly after introduction of the contract. These increases were broadly<br />

uni<strong>for</strong>m across all seven ethnic groups (no significant differences between the groups),<br />

except <strong>for</strong> the Black Caribbean group, which had HbA1c improvements that were<br />

significantly lower than in the White British group. 155<br />

In the same studies described in the above paragraph, Millet et al also investigated ethnic<br />

differences in BP targets in diabetic patients.<br />

Blood pressure reduced over time <strong>for</strong> all ethnic groups. However the magnitude of the<br />

improvement appeared to differ between ethnic groups even after adjusting <strong>for</strong> the<br />

effects of age, gender, years since the diagnosis, practice size and deprivation of the area<br />

where the patient lives and the area where the practice is located. The average<br />

reductions in blood pressure where lower in the black patients than in the white<br />

patients, resulting in a widening of the existing ethnic disparities <strong>for</strong> Blacks. No<br />

significant difference between South Asian patients and White patients was found. 157<br />

In their second study, Millet et al (2007), found that the proportion of patients reaching<br />

BP targets increased significantly after introduction of the contract. These increases<br />

were broadly uni<strong>for</strong>m across all seven ethnic groups (no significant differences between<br />

the groups), except <strong>for</strong> the Black Caribbean group, which had BP improvements that<br />

were significantly lower than in the White British group and this in spite of the fact that<br />

this patient group is most in need because of their hereditary predisposition <strong>for</strong><br />

cardiovascular diseases. 155<br />

One historical comparison study, with multiple time points looked at QOF indicators<br />

<strong>for</strong> smokers with diabetes. This study showed that significantly more patients had their<br />

smoking status ever recorded in 2005 than in 2003. They found a larger increase in<br />

recording <strong>for</strong> women and the non-white ethnic groups (except Bangladeshi) even after<br />

adjustment <strong>for</strong> age, ethnic background, deprivation status and practice clustering.<br />

Also the proportion of patients with documented smoking cessation advice increased<br />

significantly. No difference was found according to age, sex or ethnic group.<br />

Concerning the prevalence of smoking an overall reduction in smoking was observed<br />

(20% to 16.2%). Both women and men benefited from this reduction but women<br />

benefited less. The reduction was not significantly different in the most and least affluent<br />

groups and the existing gap remained. Black African and Bangladeshi patients benefited<br />

less from this reduction compared to Whites. 156

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