Table 1.
Characteristics of responding health care practitioners
| General practitioners (n = 443) | Physiotherapists (n = 580) | |
|---|---|---|
| Years since qualification: mean (SD) | 18.7 (9.1) | 15.2 (11.6) |
| Gender (% female) | 41.5 | 80.8 |
| Working exclusively in general practice (% yes) | 72.3 | N/Aa |
| Practice type (%) | N/Aa | |
| Single-handed | 4.6 | |
| Group practice | 95.4 | |
| Postgraduate training in back pain (% yes) | 22.5 | 69.8 |
| Any specialist clinical interests (% yes) | 54.3 | 62.6 |
| Personal experience of LBP (% yes) | 69.9 | 73.4 |
| Practice setting (%) | N/Aa | |
| Exclusively NHS | 52.2 | |
| Combination of NHS and non-NHS | 19.1 | |
| Exclusively non-NHS | 28.8 | |
| Proportion of primary care patients in caseload (%) | N/Aa | |
| None | 10.6 | |
| <50% | 18.1 | |
| >50% | 37.9 | |
| All | 33.4 | |
| Work environment (%) | N/Aa | |
| Mostly alone | 29.0 | |
| Mostly with other PTs | 47.4 | |
| Mostly in a multi-disciplinary environment | 23.6 | |
| Gradeb (when applicable – does not add to 100%) (%) | N/Aa | |
| Staff (junior) | 9.7 | |
| Senior II | 19.6 | |
| Senior I | 35.5 | |
| Extended scope practitioner/clinical specialist | 9.5 | |
| Superintendent/manager | 7.1 | |
| Consultant therapist | 1.0 |
SD – standard deviation, NHS – National Health Service.
a
Not applicable. This question was not included for this professional group.
b
Staff grade is newly qualified, typically up to two years experience. Further grades are graded according to clinical, managerial and supervisory responsibilities ranging from Senior II to consultant therapist. Grades have been changed recently to bands within the Agenda for Change framework [1].