Table 2.
Factors associated with the frequent use of referral and reply letters
| Primary care doctors (n = 718) |
Secondary care doctors (n = 883) |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| n (%) | aOR (95% CI) | n (%) | aOR (95% CI) | |
| Age | ||||
| 24–35 years | 183 (80.3) | 1 | 224 (60.9) | 1 |
| 36–50 years | 245 (79.8) | 1.51 (0.5–4.2) | 295 (56.1) | 1.08 (0.73–1.60) |
| > 50 years | 221 (88.8) | 3.4 (1.2–9.7) | 256 (57.1) | 1.00 (0.61–1.62) |
| Contracted hours per week | ||||
| <20 h | 64 (64.7) | 1 | 193 (50.0) | 1 |
| 20–40 h | 413 (82.3) | 1.03 (0.58–1.86) | 414 (57.7) | 0.91 (0.58–1.43) |
| >40 h | 175 (94.1) | 1.15 (0.64–2.06) | 171 (69.2) | 0.84 (0.54–1.32) |
| Time per patient | ||||
| ≤15 min | 249 (76.2) | 1 | 372 (50.7) | 1 |
| >15 min | 399 (87.5) | 1.00 (0.44–2.22) | 373 (65.7) | 1.24 (0.72–2.14) |
| Satisfaction with the job | ||||
| No | 94 (72.9) | 1 | 153 (50.0) | 1 |
| Yes | 555 (84.7) | 1.57 (0.99–2.51) | 623 (60.1) | 0.94 (0.68–1.28) |
| Identifies PC doctor as coordinator of patient care across care levels | ||||
| No | 128 (81.0) | 1 | 379 (53.9) | 1 |
| Yes | 520 (83.3) | 0.95 (0.57–1.60) | 368 (62.6) | 1.41 (1.03–1.93) |
| Knows doctors of the other care level | ||||
| No | 491 (86.6) | 1 | 519 (57.1) | 1 |
| Yes | 115 (67.7) | 0.50 (0.20–1.28) | 183 (55.8) | 1.51 (1.15–1.98) |
| Trusts in clinical skills of doctors of the other care level | ||||
| No | 120 (82.8) | 1 | 344 (54.0) | 1 |
| Yes | 527 (82.9) | 0.92 (0.58–1.49) | 411 (61.3) | 1.85 (1.45–2.36) |
| Receives the referral form | ||||
| No | 256 (69.0) | 1 | ||
| Yes | 516 (72.4) | 1.97 (1.36–2.86) | ||
aOR: odds ratio adjusted for all variables jointly including the country variable. CI: confidence interval.
Statistically significant OR are shown in bold. CI was calculated at 95% significance.