Table 5.

 Relation of personal characteristics with perceived relevance to intended practice and self reported frequency of counselling general medicine patients, reported during senior year of US medical school (2003)

	Highly relevant to practice				Usually/always counsel
	No of students*	% of students	Crude OR (95% CI)		No of students*	% of students	Crude OR (95% CI)
Total	1330	46 (41 to 51)			1394	28 (24 to 31)
Sex:
Men	704	39	1.0 (ref)		739	26	1.0 (ref)
Women	625	53	1.8 (1.4 to 2.2)		653	31	1.3 (0.97 to 1.6)
Ethnicity:
White	847	42	1.0 (ref)		887	25	1.0 (ref)
Asian	253	49	1.4 (1.0 to 1.8)		257	34	1.6 (1.1 to 2.2)
Black/African American	109	62	2.3 (1.4 to 3.9)		116	39	1.9 (1.1 to 3.5)
Hispanic	55	47	1.2 (0.6 to 2.5)		57	30	1.3 (0.9 to 1.8)
Other	64	47	1.2 (0.8 to 1.9)		73	30	1.3 (0.9 to 1.9)
Alcohol drinking in past month†:
None	278	55	1.7 (1.1 to 2.7)		291	32	1.4 (1.03 to 2.0)
Non-excessive	567	45	1.2 (0.9 to 1.5)		589	30	1.3 (0.96 to 1.8)
Excessive	465	42	1.0 (ref)		494	24	1.0 (ref)

*Denominator for percentage displayed. Numbers for various characteristics might not add up to row total because of item non-response for those characteristics.

†Consumption classified as “excessive” in previous month if it met at least one of: reported at least one occasion on which ≥5 drinks consumed (that is, reported one or more episodes of binge drinking), or if men drank >2 drinks/day on average or if women drank >1 drink/day on average, based on responses to frequency and average quantity questions. Those who drank less than excessively were classified as non-excessive drinkers. Those reporting no alcohol consumption in past month were classified as non-drinkers.