Table 1.
Characteristics of participants. Values are absolute frequencies (percentages) or medians (25th and 75th percentile)
| Variable (n missing) | Acupuncture (n = 220) |
Homeopathy (n = 113) |
Control (n = 315) |
p-value global (pairwise) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Female (9) | 161 (73%) | 87 (77%) | 202 (66%) | .05 (−/*/-) |
| Age (12) | 24 (23, 27) | 24 (22, 28) | 23 (22, 25) | .005 (**/−/−) |
| Half-years at medical school (12) | 7 (5, 9) | 7 (3, 9) | 7 (7, 8) | .04 (−/*/*/) |
| Score secondary schoola (28) | 1.7 (1.3, 2.3) | 1.6 (1.3, 2.0) | 1.4 (1.2, 1.6) | <.001 (**/**/-) |
| Professional training before medical school (9) | 69 (31%) | 40 (35%) | 53 (17%) | <.001 (**/**/-) |
| Knows planned type of specialization (10) Among those knowing specialization |
115 (52%) | 63 (56%) | 130 (43%) | .015 (*/*/-) |
| - family medicine | 29 (25%) | 30 (48%) | 19 (15%) | <.001 (−/**/*) |
| - surgery | 13 (11%) | 3 (5%) | 33 (25%) | .001 (*/*/-) |
| - internal medicine | 13 (11%) | 6 (10%) | 23 (18%) | .19 (−/−/-) |
p-values for three-group comparisons from Kruskal-Wallis-tests and Pearson-Chi2-tests; p-values for pairwise comparisons from Fisher’s exact tests and Mann–Whitney-U-tests: − p ≥ .05 ; * p = .002 to p = .049 ; ** p ≤ .001 (order: first position - acupuncture vs. control, second position - homeopathy vs. control; third position - acupuncture vs. homeopathy)
ascores for final examinations at German secondary schools qualifying for university can vary between 0.7 (best score) and 6 (worst score)