Table 1. Study population characteristics among private practitioners comparing point-of-care (POC) testing practices in Chennai, India (n = 228).
| Point-of-Care Testing Practices | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Characteristic | Total (n = 228) n(%) | Any POC Testing* (n = 110) n(%) | No POC Testing (n = 118) n(%) | P** |
| Gender | ||||
| Male | 160 (70) | 68 (62) | 92 (78) | <0.01 |
| Female | 68 (30) | 42 (38) | 26 (22) | |
| Education level | ||||
| MBBS | 80 (35) | 37 (34) | 43 (36) | 0.85 |
| MS | 11(5) | 6 (5) | 5 (4) | |
| MD | 137 (60) | 67 (61) | 70 (59) | |
| Type of facility | ||||
| Government with private practice in evening | 22 (10) | 8 (7) | 14 (12) | 0.02 |
| Private standalone clinic or polyclinic | 129 (56) | 55 (50) | 74 (63) | |
| Private hospital or nursing home | 77 (34) | 47 (43) | 30 (25) | |
| Years practicing | ||||
| Median [IQR] | 20 [15–30] | 20 [14–28] | 25 [15–30] | 0.02 |
| Practitioner specialty | ||||
| General medicine | 153 (67) | 77 (70) | 76 (65) | <0.001 |
| Chest/Pulmonary specialist | 39 (17) | 8 (7) | 31 (26) | |
| Other‡ | 36 (16) | 25 (23) | 11 (9) | |
| Number of patients diagnosed with TB annually | ||||
| ≤12 patients with TB | 110 (48) | 53 (48) | 57 (48) | 0.99 |
| >12 patients with TB | 118 (52) | 57 (52) | 61 (52) | |
| Action for pulmonary TB diagnosis | ||||
| Refer to RNTCP or PPM DOTS center | 97 (42) | 48 (44) | 49 (42) | 0.75 |
| Treatment in private sector | 131 (58) | 62 (56) | 69 (59) | |
| Usage of sputum smear microscopy for TB | ||||
| Orders at first patient visit for TB diagnosis | 115 (50) | 54 (49) | 61 (52) | 0.69 |
| Not ordered at first patient visit | 113 (50) | 56 (51) | 57 (48) | |
| Knowledge of serological antibody test ban | ||||
| Yes | 126 (55) | 60 (55) | 66 (56) | 0.83 |
| No | 102 (45) | 50 (46) | 52 (44) | |
| Source of information on TB† | ||||
| No sources/non-chest specialty | 39 (17) | 14 (13) | 25 (21) | 0.09 |
| Journals, books, newspaper, newsletters | 82 (36) | 42 (38) | 40 (34) | 0.50 |
| Internet | 71 (31) | 38 (35) | 33 (28) | 0.28 |
| CME or workshop | 99 (43) | 46 (42) | 53 (45) | 0.64 |
| Medical representative or colleague | 25 (11) | 11 (10) | 14 (12) | 0.65 |
MD, Medical doctor degree; MS, Master of surgery degree; MBBS, Bachelor of medicine and bachelor of surgery undergraduate degrees; RNTCP, Revised National TB Control Program; PPM DOTS, Public-Private Mix directly observed therapy short course.
*POC tests utilized included glucose (n = 97), pregnancy (n = 48), malaria (n = 12), hepatitis (n = 9), dengue (n = 9), typhoid (n = 9), and HIV (n = 4).
**Pearson's chi-squared (or Fisher's exact) test for categorical variables comparing practitioners that perform point-of-care (POC) diagnostic tests in-house versus ordering from a private lab; Wilcoxon test for continuous variables.
‡Other MD and MS practitioner specialties included Obstetrics and gynecology (n = 15), Pediatrician (n = 5), Surgeon (General/Orthopedic/Ophthalmologic) (n = 4), Diabetes Specialist (n = 6), Ear nose and throat (n = 2), Oncologist (n = 1), and Radiologist (n = 1).
†Categories are not mutually exclusive.