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. 2018 Feb 14;33(4):494–504. doi: 10.1093/heapol/czy016

Table 1.

Characteristics of the study sample

Argentina Brazil Chile Colombia Mexico Uruguay
(n = 350) (n  = 381) (n  = 348) (n  = 363) (n  = 365) (n  = 353)
n (%) n (%) n (%) n (%) n (%) n (%)
Sex
    Male 106 (30.3) 161 (42.3) 182 (52.3) 237 (65.3) 202 (55.3) 161 (45.6)
    Female 244 (69.7) 220 (57.7) 166 (47.7) 126 (34.7) 163 (44.7) 191 (54.1)
Age
    24–35 years 78 (22.3) 104 (27.3) 133 (38.2) 189 (52.1) 38 (10.4) 60 (17.0)
    36–50 years 160 (45.7) 155 (40.7) 126 (36.2) 94 (25.9) 139 (38.1) 166 (47.0)
   >50 years 112 (32.0) 118 (31.0) 89 (25.6) 78 (21.5) 188 (51.5) 121 (34.3)
Care level
    Primary care 157 (44.9) 109 (28.6) 141 (40.5) 118 (32.5) 156 (42.7) 109 (30.9)
    Secondary care 193 (55.1) 272 (71.4) 207 (59.5) 245 (67.5) 209 (57.3) 244 (69.1)
Years working in the centre
    Less than 1 year 47 (13.4) 73 (19.2) 117 (33.6) 120 (33.1) 27 (7.4) 35 (9.9)
    From 1 to 3 years 61 (17.4) 112 (29.4) 61 (17.5) 98 (27.0) 40 (11.0) 54 (15.3)
    More than 3 years 242 (69.1) 196 (51.4) 170 (48.9) 145 (39.9) 298 (81.6) 264 (74.8)
Type of contract
    Stable 267 (77.0) 292 (76.6) 129 (37.7) 73 (20.5) 295 (81.0) 258 (73.1)
    Temporary 80 (23.1) 89 (23.4) 213 (62.3) 283 (79.5) 69 (19.0) 83 (23.5)
Contracted hours per week
   <20 h 54 (15.4) 165 (43.3) 34 (9.8) 41 (11.3) 2 (0.6) 203 (57.5)
    20–40 h 279 (79.7) 187 (49.1) 173 (49.7) 119 (32.8) 351 (96.2) 118 (33.4)
   >40 h 17 (4.9) 29 (7.6) 141 (40.5) 203 (55.9) 11 (3.3) 32 (9.1)
Working in private sector
    Yes 119 (34.0) 211 (55.4) 200 (57.5) 131 (36.1) 178 (48.8) 306 (86.7)
    No 231 (66.0) 170 (44.6) 148 (42.5) 230 (63.4) 186 (51.0) 42 (11.9)
Time per patient
Primary care
    15 min or less 68 (43.3) 54 (49.5) 103 (73.1) 6 (5.1) 9 (5.8) 88 (80.7)
    More than 15 min 89 (56.7) 55 (50.5) 38 (27.0) 112 (94.9) 145 (94.2) 19 (17.4)
Secondary care
    15 min or less 102 (52.8) 215 (79.3) 123 (60.0) 75 (31.1) 37 (19.2) 198 (81.2)
    More than 15 min 64 (33.2) 56 (20.7) 82 (40.0) 166 (68.9) 156 (80.8) 46 (18.9)
Enough time for clinical coordination during consultationa
    Yes 107 (30.6) 139 (36.5) 49 (14.1) 61 (16.8) 95 (26.0) 137 (38.8)
    No 234 (66.9) 236 (61.9) 298 (85.6) 302 (83.2) 259 (71.0) 191 (54.1)
Knows doctors of the other level of careb
    Primary care 49 (31.2) 13 (11.9) 14 (9.9) 9 (7.6) 18 (11.5) 69 (63.3)
    Secondary care 65 (33.7) 29 (10.7) 19 (9.2) 17 (6.9) 24 (11.5) 180 (73.8)
    Total 114 (32.6) 42 (11.0) 33 (9.5) 26 (7.2) 42 (11.5) 249 (70.5)
Trust in the clinical skills of doctors of the other level of careb
    Primary care 127 (80.9) 74 (67.9) 118 (83.7) 98 (83.0) 123 (78.8) 98 (89.9)
    Secondary care 139 (72.0) 123 (45.2) 64 (30.9) 106 (43.3) 59 (28.2) 191 (78.3)
    Total 266 (76.0) 197 (51.7) 182 (52.3) 204 (56.2) 182 (49.9) 289 (81.9)
Knowledge of the referral and reply letter mechanism
Primary care
    Yes 154 (98.1) 85 (78.0) 141 (100.0) 118 (100.0) 155 (99.4) 55 (50.5)
    No 3 (1.9) 24 (22.0) 0 (0.0) 0 (0.0) 1 (0.6) 52 (47.7)
Secondary care
    Yes 171 (88.6) 149 (54.8) 207 (100.0) 245 (100.0) 206 (98.6) 119 (48.8)
    No 21 (10.9) 115 (42.3) 0 (0.0) 0 (0.0) 3 (1.4) 118 (48.4)
a

Yes: always, very often; No: sometimes, rarely, never.

b

Categories were grouped into; yes= always and very often; No =sometimes, rarely, never. Here the results for the first category (yes) are shown.