Table 3.
Characteristics of the participants (n = 606)a
| Total | Medical doctor (n = 152) | Nurse (n = 91) | Conventional health care provider with dual training (n = 47) | Complementary therapist (n = 316) | p-value | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n | (%) | n | (%) | n | (%) | n | (%) | n | (%) | ||
| Age, years | 0.003b | ||||||||||
| Mean age | 439 | (48.2) | 133 | (45.5) | 52 | (50.4) | 28 | (50.7) | 226 | (48.9) | |
| Level of education | <0.0001d | ||||||||||
| Compulsory | 2 | (0.4) | (0.0) | (0.0) | (0.0) | 2 | (0.8) | ||||
| Middle level | 45 | (9.6) | (0.0) | (0.0) | (0.0) | 45 | (18.5) | ||||
| University up to 4 years | 143 | (30.4) | (0.0) | 28 | (50.0) | 14 | (45.2) | 101 | (41.6) | ||
| University more than 4 years/PhD | 280 | (59.6) | 140 | (100) | 28 | (50.0) | 17 | (54.8) | 95 | (39.1) | |
| Professiona | |||||||||||
| Oncology doctor | 32 | (16.2) | 32 | (100) | |||||||
| Family physician | 124 | (59.6) | 121 | (97.6) | 3 | (2.4) | |||||
| Nurse | 118 | (41.5) | 91 | (100) | 27 | (93.1) | |||||
| Conventional health care provider with dual training | 1 | (0.6) | 1 | (100) | |||||||
| Acupuncturist | 212 | (57.5) | (0.0) | (0.0) | 38 | (17.9) | 174 | (82.0) | |||
| Massage therapist | 128 | (46.7) | (0.0) | (0.0) | 9 | (75.0) | 119 | (73.0) | |||
| Reflexologist/zonetherapist | 42 | (22.5) | (80.0) | (0.0) | 3 | (7.1) | 36 | (92.8) | |||
| Clinical practice | <0.0001d | ||||||||||
| Full time health provider | 287 | (71.9) | 121 | (89.0) | 38 | (77.6) | 18 | (72.0) | 110 | (58.2) | |
| Part time health provider | 92 | (23.1) | 11 | (8.1) | 10 | (20.4) | 5 | (20.0) | 66 | (34.9) | |
| Other (students or retired persons) | 20 | (5.0) | 4 | (2.9) | 1 | (2.0) | 2 | (8.0) | 13 | (6.9) | |
| Patient visits per week | <0.0001c | ||||||||||
| 1–19 patients | 132 | (33.9) | 11 | (8.3) | 27 | (57.4) | 4 | (16.0) | 90 | (48.6) | |
| 20–39 patients | 121 | (31.1) | 28 | (21.2) | 17 | (36.2) | 5 | (20.0) | 71 | (38.4) | |
| 40 or more patients | 136 | (35.0) | 93 | (70.5) | 3 | (6.4) | 16 | (64.0) | 24 | (13.0) | |
| Cancer patient visits per week | <0.0001d | ||||||||||
| 1–19 cancer patients | 362 | (92.1) | 126 | (92.6) | 31 | (64.6) | 23 | (92.0) | 182 | (98.9) | |
| 20 and more patients | 31 | (7.9) | 10 | (7.4) | 17 | (35.4) | 2 | (8.0) | 2 | (1.1) | |
| Location | 0.004c | ||||||||||
| Rural area | 119 | (29.9) | 57 | (41.9) | 7 | (14.6) | 3 | (12.0) | 52 | (27.5) | |
| Small city, village (up to 50,000 inhabitants) | 153 | (38.4) | 44 | (32.4) | 23 | (47.9) | 12 | (48.0) | 74 | (39.2) | |
| Large city (>50,000 inhabitants) | 126 | 31.7) | 35 | (25.7) | 18 | (37.5) | 10 | (40.0) | 63 | (33.3) | |
aDue to multiple response on one or more variables, the analyzed numbers do not always add up to the total number
bOne-way ANOVA
cChi-square
dFisher’s exact test