Characteristics of 2556 responding US physicians, as well as their perceived barriers to shared decision-making
| Characteristic | N (%) |
|---|---|
| Age, mean (SD), years | 51.0 (8.5) |
| Male sex | 1784 (70) |
| Race or ethnic group* | |
| White or Caucasian | 1958 (77) |
| Asian | 369 (15) |
| Other | 124 (5) |
| Black or African-American | 80 (3) |
| Region† | |
| South | 829 (33) |
| Midwest | 594 (23) |
| Northeast | 548 (22) |
| West | 570 (22) |
| Primary specialty | |
| Primary care | 1034 (40) |
| Surgery | 571 (22) |
| Procedural specialty | 486 (19) |
| Non-procedural specialty | 399 (16) |
| Non-clinical | 44 (2) |
| Practice setting type | |
| Group/HMO | 1641 (64) |
| Small/solo | 498 (19) |
| City/state/federal government | 336 (13) |
| Medical school | 59 (2) |
| Practice compensation type‡ | |
| Billing only | 1036 (41) |
| Salary plus bonus | 874 (35) |
| Salary only | 460 (18) |
| Other | 154 (6) |
| Political self-characterisation§ | |
| Very conservative | 254 (10) |
| Somewhat conservative | 709 (28) |
| Independent/moderate | 726 (29) |
| Somewhat liberal/progressive | 495 (20) |
| Very liberal/progressive | 247 (10) |
| Which of the following is a major barrier to you more actively engaging patients in a process of shared decision-making? (n=2402)¶ | |
| Patient confusion | 1558 (65) |
| Lack of patient interest in playing an active role | 1425 (59) |
| Lack of adequate time with the patient | 1349 (56) |
| Administrative burdens | 808 (34) |
| Inability to individualise risk | 499 (21) |
| Financial pressure to do better paying activities | 349 (15) |
| Other | 268 (11) |
| Lack of supportive systems | 216 (9) |
*Percentages based on a denominator of 2532.
†Percentages based on a denominator of 2541.
‡Percentages based on a denominator of 2524.
§Percentages based on a denominator of 2497.
¶Item was ‘Mark all that apply’; hence percentages here were calculated with the denominator as the total number of respondents who answered this question (ie, selected at least one of the response category options).
HMO, Health Maintenance Organization.