Table 4 Physician and patient characteristics, by intervention group
informed only | Insert | Atheoretical outsert | TPB-based outsert | Insert + atheoretical outsert developed | Insert + TPB-based outsert | All | p value* | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
N = 1166 | N = 1093 | N = 565 | N = 585 | N = 550 | N = 545 | N = 4504 | ||
Physician characteristics | ||||||||
Sex (% male) | 76.3 | 77.5 | 75.4 | 80.5 | 78.9 | 76.0 | 77.3 | 0.25 |
Place of training (%) | 0.24 | |||||||
• Canada or USA | 78.2 | 75.6 | 73.8 | 78.6 | 77.8 | 80.8 | 76.8 | |
• UK Ireland, Australia, New Zealand | 7.8 | 8.8 | 11.2 | 9.4 | 11.6 | 8.1 | 9.2 | |
• Other | 14.0 | 15.6 | 15.0 | 12.0 | 10.6 | 11.1 | 14.0 | |
Solo practice (%) | 66.1 | 72.7 | 70.3 | 68.0 | 69.5 | 68.6 | 69.2 | 0.030 |
Rurala (%) | 11.0 | 12.1 | 14.9 | 12.5 | 12.7 | 10.3 | 11.9 | 0.18 |
Years since graduation: mean (std) | 26.3 (10.2) | 27.0 (10.1) | 26.7 (10.3) | 26.9 (10.0) | 26.4 (10.0) | 26.5 (9.2) | 26.6 (10.0) | 0.51 |
Elapsed time between mail-out and patient visit (days): median (25th, 75th percentiles)b | 185 (99, 276) | 191 (105, 275) | 196 (103, 275) | 190 (102, 274) | 184 (99, 270) | 186 (101, 274) | 189 (101, 274) | 0.26 |
Patients newly treated for hypertension started on only a thiazide (%) | 27.6 | 27.4 | 27.3 | 26.3 | 27.8 | 28.9 | 27.5 | 0.69 |
Patient characteristics | ||||||||
Number of patient visits | 6151 | 5507 | 3028 | 3188 | 2907 | 2802 | 23,583 | |
Sex (% female) | 53.0 | 52.6 | 54.5 | 53.4 | 51.8 | 52.1 | 52.9 | 0.32 |
Age at time of visit to physician: median (25th, 75th percentiles) | 74 (70, 79) | 74 (70, 79) | 74 (70, 79) | 74 (70, 80) | 74 (70, 80) | 74 (70, 79) | 70 (70, 79) | 0.25 |
Location of the visit (%) | 0.051 | |||||||
• Physician office | 95.4 | 95.7 | 95.5 | 95.9 | 94.8 | 95.9 | 95.5 | |
• Long-term care | 3.5 | 3.2 | 3.5 | 3.0 | 4.5 | 3.0 | 3.4 | |
• Patient’s home or consultation by phone | 1.2 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 1.2 | 1.0 | |