Table 1 Respondent physician characteristics (N = 79)
Physician characteristics | N (%)* |
|---|---|
Age | |
< 40 years | 68 (86) |
40 to 60 years | 11 (14) |
Gender | |
Male | 45 (57) |
Female | 34 (43) |
Physician level of practice | |
Housestaff | 48 (61) |
Attending | 31 (39) |
Current or planned clinical practice | |
Primary care internal medicine | 40 (51) |
Internal medicine subspecialty | 37 (47) |
Undecided | 2 (3) |
Current or planned practice location | |
Metropolitan | 74 (94) |
Suburban | 7 (9) |
Rural | 0 (0) |
Self-Reported factors influencing clinical practice † | |
Supportive evidence | 76 (96) |
Prior or local practice patterns (culture) | 71 (90) |
Prior experience | 56 (71) |
Patient demand | 42 (53) |
Malpractice concern | 29 (37) |
Hospital profit | 14 (18) |
Individual profit | 9 (11) |
Sources of information used to inform clinical practice † | |
Peer-reviewed journals | 64 (81) |
Practice guidelines | 60 (76) |
Prior experience | 44 (56) |
Other resources | 36 (46) |
Continuing medical education events (local and national) | 9 (11) |