Table 1:

Measures	SECON	SECON_R	SECON_R2	SECON_R3
SECON SECON unadjusted continuity measure	1 0	0.84934 0.0001	0.92321 0.0001	0.91385 0.0001
SECON_R SECON adjusted for referrals, practices	0.84934 0.0001	1 0	0.9157 0.0001	0.92925 0.0001
SECON_R2 SECON adjusted for practices only	0.92321 0.0001	0.9157 0.0001	1 0	0.84167 0.0001
SECON_R3 SECON adjusted for referrals only	0.91385 0.0001	0.92925 0.0001	0.84167 0.0001	1 0

After reviewing the article by Steinwachs (See Steinwachs et al. (1979)), Roos et. al. (1998) decided to use SECON_R as the measure of continuity for the paper because it is easier to interpret and it is sensitive to the sequence of visits.

The following matrix (Table 2) shows the strong correlation among all three measures of continuity:

Table 2:

MORE INFORMATION:

• Roos NP, Carriere KC, Friesen D (1998). Factors Influencing the Frequency of Visits by Hypertensive Patients to Primary Care Physicians in Winnipeg, CMAJ, 159(7): 777-783 [abstract].
  
  
• Steinwachs D (1979). Measuring Provider Continuity in Ambulatory Care. An Assessment of Alternative Approaches. Med Care,17(6):551-65