Table 4

Conditional Odds Ratios for styles of decision-making preferred by physicians (excluding perceived role)

Physician characteristics
Paternalism vs. Shared decision-making*
Consumerism vs. Shared decision-making.**


COR (95% CI)
COR (95% CI)

Age


     28 – 49
1.00
1.00
     50+
2.09 (1.41 – 3.11)
1.11 (0.72 – 1.71)



Country of training


     U.S.
1.00
1.00
     Overseas
2.37 (1.34 – 4.19)
0.98 (0.45 – 2.16)



Respondent's type of medical specialty1


     Primary Care
1.00
1.00
     Medical Specialty
1.32 (0.84 – 2.07)
1.66 (0.97 – 2.87)
     Surgical Specialty
0.74 (0.43 – 1.29)
2.56 (1.51 – 4.34)



Percentage of patients from minority backgrounds


     40% or less
1.00
1.00
     > 40%
1.53 (0.96 – 2.45)
1.10 (0.64 – 1.89)



Physician perceptions of frequency of encouraging patients to look for information


     Often/Sometimes
1.00
1.00
     Hardly ever/Never
2.05 (1.33 – 3.17)
0.96 (0.57 – 1.61)



Physician perceptions of frequency of having enough time with patients in visits


     Often/Sometimes
1.00
1.00
     Hardly ever/Never
1.81 (1.03 – 3.18)
1.54 (0.84 – 2.85)

* A Conditional Odds Ratio of > 1 means that physicians in this category had a greater likelihood of preferring paternalism compared to shared decision-making than the referent group.

** A Conditional Odds Ratio of > 1 means that physicians in this category had a greater likelihood of preferring consumerism compared to shared decision-making than the referent group.

1Physicians in surgical specialties were less likely than physicians in medical specialties to prefer paternalism compared to shared decision-making (OR 0.56; 95% CI 0.33 – 0.97), but no more likely to prefer consumerism compared to shared decision-making (OR 1.54; 95% CI 0.94 – 2.51).

Murray et al. BMC Family Practice 2007 8:10   doi:10.1186/1471-2296-8-10