Table 3.
Primary Care Physicians (n = 374): Self-Reported Practice Among the Underserved, Stratified by Physician Sex, Religious Characteristics, and Intrinsic Motivations
| Practice Among the Underserved | |||
| Bivariate | Multivariate | ||
| Characteristics (n*) | % | P | OR (95% CI) |
| Sex | |||
| Male (248) | 30 | .80 | 1.0 (referent) |
| Female (120) | 31 | 0.7 (0.3–1.3) | |
| Religious characteristics | |||
| Spirituality | |||
| Low (87) | 20 | 1.0 (referent) | |
| Moderate (164) | 29 | .01 | 2.0 (1.0–4.1)† |
| High (116) | 39 | 3.0 (1.5–6.1)† | |
| Intrinsic religiosity | |||
| Low (110) | 30 | 1.0 (referent) | |
| Moderate (106) | 22 | .08 | 0.9 (0.4–1.7) |
| High (140) | 36 | 1.4 (0.8–2.5) | |
| Attendance at religious services | |||
| Never (29) | 40 | 1.0 (referent) | |
| Once a month or less (157) | 28 | .43 | 0.6 (0.3–1.5) |
| Twice a month or more (180) | 30 | 0.8 (0.3–1.8) | |
| Religious affiliation | |||
| None (37) | 40 | 1.0 (referent) | |
| Catholic (75) | 32 | 0.7 (0.3–1.8) | |
| Jewish (35) | 22 | .51 | 0.4 (0.2–1.3) |
| Other religion (58) | 27 | 0.8 (0.3–2.1) | |
| Protestant (162) | 29 | 0.7 (0.3–1.5) | |
| Religious beliefs influence medicine | |||
| Strongly disagree/disagree (143) | 27 | 1.0 (referent) | |
| Agree (145) | 23 | <.001 | 0.9 (0.5–1.5) |
| Strongly agree (76) | 49 | 3.0 (1.6–5.5)† | |
| Intrinsic motivations for work | |||
| Family emphasized service to poor | |||
| Strongly disagree/disagree (77) | 20 | 1.0 (referent) | |
| Agree (181) | 33 | .08 | 1.8 (0.9–3.5) |
| Strongly agree (108) | 33 | 1.9 (0.9–4.0) | |
| Practice of medicine is a calling | |||
| Strongly disagree/disagree (103) | 25 | 1.0 (referent) | |
| Agree (135) | 25 | .61 | 1.1 (0.6–2.0) |
| Strongly agree (123) | 31 | 1.5 (0.8–2.7) | |
Note: Bivariate results present percentages of physicians in each predictor category who report their patient populations are considered underserved. Tests of association are by survey design adjusted χ2 tests. These values are followed by multivariate odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs), which are by survey design adjusted logistic regression tests that control for age, sex, ethnicity, region, foreign medical graduation, board certification, loan repayment, and working in an academic medical center (test for sex also controls for religious characteristics and intrinsic motivations).
* The n values do not all sum to 374 because of partial nonresponse.
† P <.05.