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Table 3
Association between population characteristics and the use of sources of knowledge and evidence
Characteristics	Own experience	Social interaction	Internal source of knowledge	External source of knowledge	Research evidence
	Mean score (SD)	Mean score (SD)	Mean score (SD)	Mean score (SD)	Mean score (SD)
Age (years)
22-30	2.30 (0.42)	2.79 (0.31)	2.41 (0.37)	1.97 (0.41)	1.80 (0.47)
31-40	2.42 (0.34)	2.80 (0.34)	2.44 (0.33)	1.85 (0.43)	1.75 (0.45)
41-50	2.42 (0.36)	2.74 (0.37)	2.45 (0.41)	1.91 (0.53)	1.94 (0.58)
51-63	2.51 (0.42)	2.73 (0.38)	2.48 (0.34)	1.74 (0.64)	1.97 (0.55)
P value¹	0.003	0.16	0.19	0.003	0.003
Adjusted P value²	0.50	0.08	0.27	0.27	0.002
Number of years of nursing practice
0 -5	2.33 (0.41)	2.80 (0.31)	2.42 (0.37)	1.95 (0.43)	1.79 (0.48)
6-10	2.42 (0.34)	2.75 (0.38)	2.47 (0.37)	1.86 (0.44)	1.85 (0.53)
11-20	2.47 (0.37)	2.71 (0.38)	2.44 (0.37)	1.87 (0.52)	1.90 (0.57)
21-40	2.49 (0.39)	2.76 (0.35)	2.46 (0.36)	1.70 (0.46)	1.95 (0.53)
P value¹	0.001	0.18	0.47	<0.001	0.02
Adjusted P value²	0.41	0.63	0.09	0.004	0.12
Number of years since obtaining last health professional degree
0 -5	2.35 (0.40)	2.75 (0.34)	2.42 (0.36)	1.92 (0.44)	1.83 (0.51)
6-10	2.44 (0.35)	2.77 (0.36)	2.49 (0.35)	1.84 (0.49)	1.91 (0.55)
11-20	2.49 (0.39)	2.77 (0.37)	2.43 (0.38)	1.79 (0.51)	1.86 (0.52)
21-37	2.52 (0.37)	2.79 (0.37)	2.46 (0.35)	1.75 (0.47)	1.92 (0.52)
P value¹	0.001	0.51	0.47	0.009	0.25
Adjusted P value²	0.60	0.91	0.30	0.22	0.42

Note: SD standard deviation.

¹P value for trend was estimated by incorporating the categorical variable as a linear term in linear regression models.

² Mutually adjusted for the nurse’s age, number of years of nursing practice, number of years since obtaining last health professional degree, and current educational level.

Dalheim et al. BMC Health Services Research 2012 12:367 doi:10.1186/1472-6963-12-367

Table 3