Table 3 Health professionals’ responsesa to statements about ultrasound by background characteristics and other selected variables
Background variables | Obstetric ultrasound examinations are often performed for non-medical purposes in my country | Pregnant women should be able to have non-medical ultrasound on their own request | ||||
Agree or strongly agree | Disagree or strongly disagree | p-valueb | Agree or strongly agree | Disagree or strongly disagree | p-valueb | |
n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | |||
Health professional/workplace (n) | (901) | (903) | ||||
Physicians in hospitals | 26 (10.4) | 166 (66.4) | 0.001 | 165 (65.7) | 43 (17.1) | 0.049 |
Midwives/nurses in hospitals | 46 (13.9) | 245 (73.8) | 240 (72.7) | 61 (18.5) | ||
Nurses/midwives in health centres | 44 (13.8) | 256 (80.3) | 254 (78.9) | 57 (17.7) | ||
Age (n) | (898) | (900) | ||||
≤ 35 years | 64 (12.3) | 386 (73.9) | 0.727 | 377 (71.8) | 92 (17.5) | 0.313 |
> 35 years | 51 (13.6) | 279 (74.2) | 281 (74.9) | 68 (18.1) | ||
Public/Private health carec (n) | (898) | (901) | ||||
Public | 85 (12.2) | 514 (73.7) | 0.386 | 513 (73.2) | 118 (16.8) | 0.036 |
Private | 10 (14.3) | 49 (70.0) | 49 (69.0) | 16 (22.5) | ||
Both public and private | 20 (15.3) | 103 (78.6) | 95 (73.6) | 27 (20.9) | ||
Public/Private health cared (n) | (898) | (901) | ||||
Public | 85 (12.2) | 514 (73.7) | 0.322 | 513 (73.2) | 118 (16.8) | 0.003 |
Private but also public | 30 (14.9) | 152 (75.6) | 144 (72.0) | 43 (21.5) | ||
Performing ultrasounde (n) | (900) | (902) | ||||
Yes | 29 (9.9) | 199 (68.2) | 0.001 | 196 (67.1) | 51 (17.5) | 0.001 |
No | 87 (14.3) | 467 (76.8) | 462 (75.7) | 110 (18.0) | ||
Indicated ultrasound exam. in uncomplicated pregnancyf | (893) | (895) | ||||
≤ 3 | 85 (13.8) | 463 (74.9) | 0.051 | 458 (74.1) | 109 (17.6) | 0.390 |
> 3 | 30 (10.9) | 199 (72.4) | 198 (71.5) | 50 (18.1) | ||
“Ultrasound is safe to use”g (n) | (788) | (791) | ||||
Agree or strongly agree | 88 (12.5) | 526 (74.6) | 0.906 | 525 (74.0) | 120 (16.9) | 0.108 |
Disagree or strongly disagree | 10 (12.0) | 62 (84.7) | 52 (63.4) | 23 (28.0) | ||
“Medicalisation of pregnancyh (n) | (810) | |||||
Agree or strongly agree | 101 (13.8) | 544 (74.5) | 0.161 | 548 (74.9) | 130 (17.8) | 0.118 |
Disagree or strongly disagree | 6 (7.5) | 60 (75.0) | 53 (66.3) | 17 (21.3) | ||
Commercialisation of ultrasound is a problem in my country | Commercialisation is a problem in my hospital/clinic | |||||
Agree or strongly agree | Disagree or strongly disagree | p-valueb | Agree or strongly agree | Disagree or strongly disagree | p-valueb | |
n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | |||
Health professional/workplace (n) | (900) | (896) | ||||
Physicians in hospitals | 40 (16.1) | 116 (46.4) | 0.001 | 24 (9.7) | 145 (58.5) | 0.001 |
Midwives/nurses in hospitals | 47 (14.2) | 240 (72.7) | 29 (8.8) | 267 (81.2) | ||
Nurses/midwives in health centres | 51 (15.9) | 240 (74.8) | 28 (8.8) | 261 (81.8) | ||
Age (n) | (897) | (893) | ||||
≤ 35 years | 87 (16.6) | 323 (61.5) | 0.003 | 48 (9.2) | 380 (73.1) | 0.321 |
> 35 years | 51 (13.7) | 271 (72.8) | 33 (8.8) | 291 (78.0) | ||
Public/Private health carec (n) | (897) | (893) | ||||
Public | 111 (15.9) | 447 (64.2) | 0.401 | 65 (11.4) | 504 (88.6) | 0.110 |
Private | 8 (11.4) | 51 (72.9) | 5 (8.1) | 57 (91.9) | ||
Both public and private | 19 (14.5) | 96 (73.3) | 10 (7.6) | 111 (84.7) | ||
Public/Private health cared (n) | (897) | (893) | ||||
Public | 111 (15.9) | 447 (64.2) | 0.133 | 65 (9.4) | 504 (72.9) | 0.018 |
Private but also public | 27 (13.4) | 147 (73.1) | 15 (7.4) | 168 (83.2) | ||
Performing ultrasounde (n) | (899) | (895) | ||||
Yes | 49 (16.8) | 146 (50.2) | 0.001 | 27 (9.3) | 182 (62.8) | 0.001 |
No | 89 (14.6) | 449 (73.8) | 54 (8.9) | 490 (81.0) | ||
Indicated ultrasound exams in uncomplicated pregnancyf | (892) | (888) | ||||
≤ 3 | 101 (16.4) | 421 (68.2) | 0.006 | 56 (9.1) | 475 (77.5) | 0.010 |
> 3 | 36 (13.1) | 171 (62.2) | 24 (8.7) | 192 (69.8) | ||
“Ultrasound is safe to use”g (n) | (787) | (786) | ||||
Agree or strongly agree | 112 (15.9) | 456 (64.6) | 0.286 | 68 (9.7) | 522 (74.1) | 0.691 |
Disagree or strongly disagree | 12 (14.8) | 61 (75.3) | 6 (7.3) | 66 (80.5) | ||
“Medicalisation of pregnancyh (n) | (809) | (806) | ||||
Agree or strongly agree | 113 (15.5) | 497 (68.2) | 0.942 | 67 (9.2) | 557 (76.5) | 0.151 |
Disagree or strongly disagree | 12 (15.0) | 56 (70.0) | 6 (7.7) | 60 (76.9) | ||
Do you feel that pregnant women expect to have an ultrasound during consultations, even when there is no medical indication for ultrasound? | ||||||
Agree or strongly agree | Disagree or strongly disagree | |||||
n (%) | n (%) | |||||
Health professional/workplace (n) | (906) | |||||
Physicians at hospitals | 182 (72.5) | 45 (17.9) | 0.021 | |||
Midwives/nurses at hospitals | 202 (60.7) | 89 (26.7) | ||||
Nurses/midwives at health centres | 174 (54.0) | 118 (36.6) | ||||
Age (n) | (903) | 0.587 | ||||
≤ 35 years | 331 (62.8) | 137 (26.0) | ||||
> 35 years | 224 (59.6) | 115 (30.6) | ||||
Public/Private health carec (n) | (903) | |||||
Public | 443 (63.2) | 179 (25.5) | 0.015 | |||
Private | 33 (46.5) | 29 (40.8) | ||||
Both private and public | 79 (60.3) | 44 (33.6) | ||||
Public/Private health cared (n) | (903) | |||||
Public | 443 (63.2) | 179 (25.5) | 0.022 | |||
Private but also public | 112 (55.4) | 73 (36.1) | ||||
Performing ultrasounde (n) | (905) | |||||
Yes | 203 (69.3) | 60 (20.5) | 0.011 | |||
No | 354 (57.8) | 192 (31.4) | ||||
Indicated ultrasound exams in uncomplicated pregnancyf | (898) | |||||
≤ 3 | 370 (59.7) | 183 (29.5) | 0.349 | |||
> 3 | 181 (65.1) | 68 (24.5) | ||||
“Ultrasound is safe to use”g(n) | (793) | |||||
Agree or strongly agree | 455 (64.1) | 182 (25.6) | 0.002 | |||
Disagree or strongly disagree | 39 (47.0) | 38 (45.8) | ||||
“Medicalisation of pregnancyh (n) | (815) | |||||
Agree or strongly agree | 467 (63.5) | 198 (26.9) | 0.614 | |||
Disagree or strongly disagree | 46 (57.5) | 26 (32.5) | ||||