Table 2. Postal survey of physicians: sociodemographic variables and knowledge of guidelines.

Variable	Coding	n	%*1
ASHIP membership	Saxony	547	48
	North Rhine	605	52
Sex	Female	495	43
	Male	647	56
Specialization	General medicine	669	60
	Internal medicine	332	29
	Family doctor	116	10
	Other	12	1
Experience (years with own office)	Less than 2 years	81	7
	2 to <5 years	120	10
	5 to <10 years	157	14
	10 to <15 years	189	17
	15 to <20 years	294	26
	20 years or more	297	26
Knowledge of guidelines
Proportion of physicians who answered. questions in accordance with guidelines	5 questions	3
	6 questions	9
	7 questions	21	2
	8 questions	48	5
	9 questions	102	10
	10 questions	111	11
	11 questions	207	20
	12 questions	235	22
	13 questions	175	17
	14 questions	100	10
	15 questions	28	3
Hypertension	Number of responders who answered all hypertension questions in accordance with guidelines	126	11
Heart failure	Number of responders who answered all heart failure questions in accordance with guidelines	264	24
Chronic CHD	Number of responders who answered all chronic CHD questions in accordance with guidelines	811	74
Definition of hypertension	Number of responders who answered question regarding definition of hypertension in accordance with guidelines	663	58
Diagnosis of heart failure	Number of responders who answered question regarding diagnostic confirmation of heart failure in accordance with guidelines	859	75
Treatment of chronic CHD	Number of responders who answered question regarding statin treatment in accordance with guidelines	1?078	94
Adequate knowledge of guidelines	Number of responders who answered at least 10 questions in accordance with guidelines, including the three cardinal questions	437	40
Inadequate knowledge of guidelines	Number of responders who failed to meet one of the two criteria (number of questions, cardinal questions)	665	60
N		1152

^*1Percentages calculated after exclusion of missing and invalid responses