Table 1

Baseline characteristics of the 451 responding GPs

Doctor characteristicsN (%)
Sex*
 Male266 (62)
 Female162 (38)
Age (years)†
 21–50189 (47)
 51+217 (53)
Years in practice*
 0–20218 (50)
 21+219 (50)
Practice size*
 Solo practice104 (24)
 Duo or group practice334 (76)
Current job*
 GP only306 (72)
 GP plus other‡120 (28)
Research experience*
 No341 (78)
 Yes99 (22)
First acquaintance with EBM*
 Medical school or residency234 (53)
 After GP certification, while doing research208 (47)
Priority given to EBM in own daily practice*
 Low or moderate239 (55)
 High193 (45)
Own EBM performance*
 Poor or moderate253 (58)
 Excellent186 (42)
EBM performance of GP colleagues*
 Poor or moderate272 (62)
 Excellent164 (48)
Decision-making style*
 Strong intuition or mixed305 (70)
 Strong ratio128 (30)
Preferred source§ for keeping up-to-date with evidence*
 Oral reference139 (32)
 Written reference302 (68)

  • Missing data.

  • *<5%.

  • †Between 5% and 10%.

  • ‡Other, that is, registrar supervision, research, education, management.

  • §Oral reference, that is, colleagues, specialists, pharmaceutical reps or CME. Written reference, that is, internet, guidelines, handbooks or journals.

  • CPG, clinical practice guideline; EBM, evidence-based medicine; GP, general practitioner.