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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2011 Jul 1.
Published in final edited form as: Soc Sci Med. 2010 Apr 28;71(2):298–304. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2010.03.043

Table 3.

Individual Questions on the Lack of Autonomy Scale 2 (mean ± standard deviation)

Diabetes Study CHD Study
How much of the time
would you say you have
control over:		 Germany
N=64		 UK
n=128		 US
N=192		 US Only
N=256
Lack of Clinical
Autonomy
Deciding when to admit
patients to the hospital		 1.7 ± 0.54 1.8 ± 0.50 1.9 ± 0.81 1.7 ± 0.86
Determining the length of
a patient's stay in the
hospital		 3.4 ± 0.69 3.9 ± 0.26 2.7 ± 0.93 2.8 ± 1.09
Getting approval for
services you feel are
necessary		 2.3 ± 0.63 2.9 ± 0.63 2.4 ± 0.56 2.3 ± 0.63
Making referrals to a
specialist whenever
necessary		 1.4 ± 0.58 1.8 ± 0.63 1.8 ± 0.65 1.7 ± 0.64
Prescribing patients with
medications of your
choice		 1.6 ± 0.56 1.8 ± 0.56 2.5 ± 0.53 2.3 ± 0.62
Selecting which
physicians you refer
patients to		 1.9 ± 0.69 2.4 ± 0.73 2.2 ± 0.65 1.9 ± 0.66
What diagnostic tests you
can order		 1.4 ± 0.50 1.9 ± 0.50 2.1 ± 0.52 1.9 ± 0.57
Lack of Administrative
Autonomy
Spending sufficient time
with your patients		 2.1 ± 0.54 2.5 ± 0.58 2.4 ± 0.73 2.3 ± 0.67
The administrative details
of your office or clinic
schedule		 2.1 ± 0.70 2.4 ± 0.76 2.5 ± 0.83 2.5 ± 0.83
The hours you are
required to be in your
office		 2.1 ± 0.83 2.4 ± 0.71 2.3 ± 0.87 2.2 ± 0.90
The volume of paperwork
you are required to do		 2.8 ± 1.00 3.3 ± 0.73 3.3 ± 0.76 3.2 ± 0.80
The volume/size of your
patient load/list		 2.7 ± 0.91 2.7 ± 0.88 2.3 ± 0.82 2.4 ± 0.86
2

Possible responses: 1= Always, 2= Usually, 3= Sometimes, 4=Never