Table 3.
Physician-level factors associated with verified referral to a CR program.
| Factors | CR Referral |
t or χ2 value | P value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yes | No | |||
| Sociodemographic | ||||
| Female | 86 (15.6%) | 102 (14.2%) | 0.50 | 0.52 |
| Mean (SD) graduation year for medical degree | 1983 ± 8.52 | 1982 ± 8.48 | 0.99 | 0.32 |
| Medical school in Ontario | 332 (60.4%) | 406 (56.5%) | 1.86 | 0.17 |
| University appointed | 251 (49.3) | 320 (49.3) | 0.92 | 0.34 |
| Subspecialty internal medicine |
349 (63.5) | 460 (64.1) | 0.05 | 0.82 |
| Mean (SD) self-reported weekly patient volume | 46.53 ± 32.93 | 46.68 ± 33.82 | −0.08 | 0.94 |
| Physician attitude (mean, SD) | ||||
| Clinical practice guidelines promote referral to CR | 1.92 ± 0.91 | 1.90 ± 0.80 | 0.29 | 0.77 |
| Colleagues generally refer patients to CR | 2.25 ± 0.96 | 2.24 ± 0.81 | 0.23 | 0.81 |
| Department/practice generally refers all eligible patients to CR as a standard of care | 2.25 ± 1.01 | 2.36 ± 0.94 | −2.02 | 0.04 |
| Reimbursement policies are a financial disincentive to CR referral | 2.93 ± 1.24 | 2.89 ± 1.16 | 0.59 | 0.55 |
| Follow-up care, including referral, is handled by another health-care professional | 3.46 ± 1.08 | 3.44 ± 1.06 | 0.33 | 0.74 |
| Intend to refer patients to CR | 1.61 ± 0.71 | 1.79 ± 0.76 | −4.43 | <0.001 |
| Not familiar with the CR programs in my area | 4.58 ± 0.70 | 4.55 ± 0.75 | 0.47 | 0.64 |
| Not familiar with CR sites outside geographic area | 3.19 ± 1.36 | 3.13 ± 1.31 | 0.87 | 0.39 |
| No standard referral form for CR, making it more effort to refer to sites closest to patients’ homes | 3.24 ± 1.48 | 3.07 ± 1.41 | 2.07 | 0.04 |
| Allied health professional fills out referral forms on physician’s behalf | 3.79 ± 1.12 | 3.72 ± 1.13 | 1.52 | 0.25 |
| Inconvenient to make a referral to CR | 3.77 ± 1.05 | 3.67 ± 1.05 | 1.89 | 0.06 |
| Prefer to manage patients’ secondary prevention | 3.29 ± 1.13 | 3.21 ± 1.15 | 1.37 | 0.17 |
| Patient education materials in office are sufficient for promoting behavioral change | 3.90 ± 0.97 | 3.81 ± 1.03 | 1.22 | 0.22 |
| Can prescribe an exercise regimen for my patients without referral | 3.77 ± 1.13 | 3.75 ± 1.06 | 0.30 | 0.76 |
| Female cardiac patients generally don’t like to exercise | 3.97 ± 1.02 | 3.91± 0.97 | 1.00 | 0.32 |
| Skeptical about the benefits of CR | 4.61 ± 0.55 | 4.53 ± 0.54 | 2.23 | 0.02 |
| Available CR program is of poor quality | 4.55 ± 0.68 | 4.38 ± 0.76 | 4.21 | <0.001 |
| Had a bad experience with a CR program | 4.64 ± 0.61 | 4.50 ± 0.70 | 3.87 | <0.001 |
| CR program does not provide patient discharge summaries | 4.56 ± 0.71 | 4.51 ± 0.73 | 1.14 | 0.26 |