Table 2 Characteristics Of Included Studies: Aims, Participants And Setting

Ab [25]

Netherlands, 2009

To explore why general practitioners do not follow guidelines on lipid-lowering treatment in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, to gain insight into the factors that represent appropriate vs. inappropriate care and tailor interventions to reduce inappropriate care.

7 purposively sampled general practitioners who had indicated that they were familiar with recently distributed guidelines on statin use in diabetic patients.

Dee [27]

USA, 1993

To describe the information needs and information-seeking behaviour of rural physicians with or without hospital library access

12 rural physicians (9 family physicians and 3 specialists) in Central Florida who agreed to participate after an extensive recruitment drive

Guerra [24]

USA, 2007

To assess whether primary care physicians routinely discuss prostate cancer screening and explore the barriers to and facilitators of these discussions

18 purposively sampled, community- and academic-based primary care physicians

Guerra [23]

USA, 2007

To explore the barriers of and facilitators to physician recommendation of colorectal cancer screening

29 purposively sampled, community- and academic-based primary care physicians

Jennett [29]

Canada, 1995

To demonstrate how patients’ charts can be used to provide insights into diagnostic, investigative, and treatment decisions in NSAID gastropathy, to assist in understanding the complexity behind clinical choices

20 family physicians in active, full-time practice

in the Calgary city area

Lockyer [28]

Canada, 1991

To obtain information about physician awareness and acceptance of guidelines, determine what influences physicians’ decisions to investigate and treat neonatal hyperbilirubinemia, and identify how physicians preferred to learn about guidelines

25 physicians (5 paediatricians and 20 family physicians) who prescribed phototherapy for jaundiced neonates in the Foothills Provincial Hospital, Calgary.

Rochefort [26]

Canada, 2012

To describe physicians’ decision-making processes, and factors influencing their decisions, regarding treatment choices for hypertension, in order to improve the cost-effectiveness of hypertension management.

29 primary care physicians in Quebec who used a specific clinical information system

Sinnott [13]

Ireland, 2015

To explore how general practitioners make decisions when prescribing for multimorbid patients, with a view to informing intervention design

20 purposively sampled general practitioners in full-time practice in Ireland.