Table 1.
Characteristics of nurse and physician immunization providers in British Columbia
| CHARACTERISTIC | NURSES* (N = 253) | PHYSICIANS* (N = 244) | P VALUE† |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age, y, n (%) | < .01 | ||
| • 21–30 | 38 (15.0) | 5 (2.1) | |
| • 31–40 | 54 (21.3) | 55 (22.6) | |
| • 41–50 | 94 (37.2) | 91 (37.4) | |
| • 51–60 | 60 (23.7) | 70 (28.8) | |
| • ≥ 61 | 7 (2.8) | 22 (9.1) | |
| Sex, n (%) | < .01 | ||
| • Male | 3 (1.2) | 121 (49.8) | |
| • Female | 250 (98.8) | 122 (50.2) | |
| Ethnicity, n (%) | < .01 | ||
| • White | 232 (92.1) | 183 (75.3) | |
| • Chinese | 4 (1.6) | 42 (17.3) | |
| • South Asian | 5 (2.0) | 11 (4.5) | |
| • Aboriginal | 3 (1.2) | 0 (0) | |
| • Mixed or other | 8 (3.2) | 7 (2.9) | |
| Community size, n (%) | < .01 | ||
| • > 5000 | 31 (12.7) | 16 (6.7) | |
| • 5001–10 000 | 21 (8.6) | 6 (2.5) | |
| • 10 001–30 000 | 35 (14.3) | 28 (11.7) | |
| • 30 001–50 000 | 31 (12.7) | 10 (4.2) | |
| • 50 001–100 000 | 47 (19.2) | 30 (12.5) | |
| • > 100 000 | 80 (32.7) | 150 (62.5) | |
| Proportion of patient population younger than 5 y, n (%) | < .01 | ||
| • 0–10 | 69 (32.1) | 146 (61.1) | |
| • 11–25 | 63 (29.3) | 72 (30.1) | |
| • 26–50 | 16 (7.4) | 10 (4.2) | |
| • 51–75 | 38 (17.7) | 7 (2.9) | |
| • 76–100 | 29 (13.5) | 4 (1.7) | |
| Primary setting of immunization provision, n (%) | NA | ||
| • Hospital | 0 (0) | 11 (4.5) | |
| • Private practice | 0 (0) | 176 (72.4) | |
| • Public health unit | 222 (88.1) | 2 (0.8) | |
| • Walk-in clinic | 0 (0) | 17 (7.0) | |
| • Other or mixed | 30 (11.9) | 37 (15.2) | |
| Years as health care provider, mean (SD) | 18.5 (10.8) | 19.8 (10.0) | .26 |
| Years providing immunization, mean (SD) | 11.4 (8.9) | 17.9 (9.9) | < .01 |
| Received education on immunization provision during academic studies, n (%) | < .01 | ||
| • Yes | 108 (43.7) | 124 (51.2) | |
| • No | 76 (30.8) | 32 (13.2) | |
| • Do not remember | 63 (25.5) | 86 (35.5) | |
| Received training on immunization provision outside of academic studies (eg, conference workshops, in-servicing, orientation, etc), n (%) | < .01 | ||
| • Yes | 247 (98.4) | 135 (55.6) | |
| • No | 4 (1.6) | 89 (36.6) | |
| • Do not remember | 0 (0) | 19 (7.8) |
NA—not applicable.
*
Numbers might not add to total because of missing data.
†
Categorical comparisons were made with χ2 tests; comparisons of continuous data were made with Mann-Whitney U tests.