Table 1.
Characteristics of the survey respondents n (%)
| Characteristic | n = 844 |
| Age, mean ± SD (range) | 36.1 ± 9.2 (19-81) |
| Gender, male | 395 (46.8) |
| Region | |
| North West | 211 (32.7) |
| North | 152 (23.6) |
| East | 100 (15.5) |
| North East | 83 (12.9) |
| South West | 68 (10.5) |
| South Central | 31 (4.8) |
| Missing data | 199 |
| Education | |
| College degree | 295 (35.0) |
| Postgraduate degree | 341 (40.4) |
| Doctoral degree | 188 (22.3) |
| Post-doctoral degree | 19 (2.3) |
| Professional title | |
| Resident physician | 291 (34.6) |
| Attending physician | 210 (24.9) |
| Associated chief physician | 198 (23.5) |
| Chief physician | 143 (17.0) |
| Level of hospital | |
| Community hospital | 15 (1.8) |
| Secondary hospital | 88 (10.4) |
| Tertiary hospital | 737 (87.3) |
| Profession | |
| Gastroenterologist | 647 (76.7) |
| General surgeons | 49 (5.8) |
| Endocrinologist | 28 (3.3) |
| Others | 120 (14.2) |
| Working time in gastroenterology (yr) | |
| < 2 | 295 (35.3) |
| 3-5 | 111 (13.3) |
| 6-10 | 106 (12.7) |
| 10-20 | 188 (22.5) |
| > 20 | 135 (16.2) |
Regions were classified according to the common geographical zones in China.