Table 1.
Characteristics of included studies
| Characteristic | Data |
|---|---|
| Country(ies)/continent on which survey was conducteda | |
| Multinational (>1 region) | 6 (5.9) |
| North America | 60 (58.8) |
| United States | 44 (43.1) |
| Canada | 11 (10.8) |
| United States/Canada | 5 (4.9) |
| Europe | 27 (26.5) |
| Australia | 4 (3.9) |
| Asia | 3 (2.9) |
| Other | 2 (2) |
| Geographic scope | |
| Single center | 11 (10.8) |
| Single city | 14 (13.7) |
| Region within a country | 21 (20.6) |
| National | 37 (36.3) |
| Multinational | 18 (17.6) |
| Not reported | 1 (1) |
| Focus on survey | |
| Attitudes/opinions/perceptions | 64 (62.7) |
| Behaviors or practice | 40 (39.2) |
| Knowledge | 13 (12.7) |
| Topic of survey | |
| End-of-life care | 10 (9.8) |
| Quality of life | 14 (13.7) |
| Prescribing/referral practices | 12 (11.8) |
| Specific disease management | 20 (19.6) |
| Transplantation | 6 (5.9) |
| Organ donation | 15 (14.7) |
| Medication | 2 (2) |
| Education/training/career | 3 (2.9) |
| Patient satisfaction | 1 (1) |
| Administration | 4 (3.9) |
| Dialysis | 8 (7.8) |
| Otherb | 15 (14.7) |
| Study populationc | |
| Health care workers | 46 (45.1) |
| Other (e.g., patients, family members) | 45 (44.1) |
| Both | 11 (10.8) |
| Professional affiliation of health care workers | 60/102 |
| Nephrologist | 34 (56.7) |
| Surgeon | 4 (6.7) |
| Resident | 6 (10) |
| Nurse | 6 (10) |
| Physician assistant | 1 (1.7) |
| Administrator | 10 (16.7) |
| Physician | 12 (20) |
| Type of patient | 52/102 |
| Dialysis | 31 (59.6) |
| Renal transplant candidates | 2 (3.8) |
| Transplant recipients | 11 (21.2) |
| General public | 5 (9.6) |
| Caregiver | 1 (1.9) |
| Other | 5 (9.6) |
| Type of survey | |
| Cross-sectional | 100 (98) |
| Longitudinal | 2 (2) |
| Mode of administration | |
| Self-administered | |
| Paper | 67 (65.7) |
| Internet | 14 (13.7) |
| Combination of both | 9 (8.8) |
| Interviewer administered | |
| Face-to-face or telephone interview | 11 (10.8) |
| Unclear | 1 (1) |
| How respondents were selected | |
| Convenience | 85 (84.2) |
| Random | 16 (15.8) |
| Stratified | 6 (5.9) |
| Cluster | 0 (0) |
| Not reported | 1 (1) |
| Reimbursement | |
| Yes | 13 (12.7) |
| No | 89 (87.3) |
| Minimum ($) | 1 |
| Median amount (of those that used a cash reimbursement) (%) | 20 |
| Highest ($) | 50 |
Unless otherwise noted, values are the number (percentage) of studies. Totals may be >100% since more than one response per survey was possible.
Both Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology and American Journal of Kidney Disease are journals from the United States, which is a potential reason for the high proportion of surveys conducted in the United States.
Other survey topics included informed consent, smoking, burnout, cancer screening practices, religion, post-traumatic stress disorder, clinician opinion on clinical practice guidelines, near-death experiences, willingness to participate in a randomized control trial, pain patterns, kidney stones, HIV, assessment of nephrology training program, disaster preparedness, practitioner communication.
Numbers may not add up to 100% because some studies surveyed both health care workers and patients.