Table 2.
Characteristics of the physicians and patients in our sample*
| n (%) | |
| Patients | |
| Men | 182 (49) |
| Women | 190 (51) |
| Total | 372 (100) |
| Age 0–17 years | 81 (22) |
| Age 18–60 years | 167 (45) |
| Age >60 years | 124 (33) |
| Total | 372 (100) |
| Physicians | |
| Men | 35 (60) |
| Women | 23 (40) |
| Total | 58 (100) |
| Age <40 years | 30 (52) |
| Age ≥40 years | 28 (48) |
| Total | 58 (100) |
| Internal medicine (cardiology, respiratory medicine, nephrology, gastroenterology, endocrinology, haematology, infectious diseases and oncology) | 19 (33) |
| Surgery (gastro surgery, urology, thorax and vascular surgery) | 7 (12) |
| Orthopaedics | 5 (9) |
| Ear–nose–throat | 2 (4) |
| Anaesthesiology | 3 (5) |
| Obstetrics and gynaecology | 6 (10) |
| Paediatrics | 8 (14) |
| Neurology | 8 (14) |
| Total | 58 (100) |
| Setting | |
| Outpatient | 291 (78) |
| Ward round | 58 (16) |
| Emergency room | 23 (6) |
| Total encounters | 372 (100) |
*The 372 patient–physician encounters that was included in our analysis.