Table 2.
Baseline characteristics
| Characteristic | Group 1 | Group 2 | Group 3 | Non participantsa |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| N | 9 | 10 | 9 | 42c |
| Age mean | 48 | 45 | 53 | 59 |
| Male gender n (%) | 5 (56) | 3 (30) | 6 (67) | 19 (45) |
| Type of practice n (%) | ||||
| Single-handed practice | 1 (11) | 0 (0) | 3 (33) | 4 (10) |
| Two-man practice | 3 (33) | 6 (60) | 2 (22) | 12 (29) |
| Group practice | 5 (56) | 4 (40) | 4 (44) | 26 (62) |
| Years of working experience as GP, mean | 16.7 | 14.5 | 22.5 | 20.5 |
| GP trainer n (%) | 2 (22) | 6 (60) | 6 (67) | 15 (36) |
| Specialised GPb n (%) | 0 (0) | 1 (10) | 0 (0) | 1 (2) |
| Estimated number of palliative patients / year, mean | 5.1 | 6.4 | 6.7 | 5.7 |
| Interest in palliative care (0: not at all; 10 extremely interested), mean | 7.9 | 8.3 | 7.9 | 8.0 |
| Self-assessed expertise in palliative care (0: no expertise; 10 extremely high expertise), mean | 6.7 | 7.1 | 7.7 | 7.3 |
aGPs who were invited to participate in the study, but did not give informed consent (97) or gave informed consent but did not complete the vignette questionnaire (5)
bA GP that has followed an extensive additional course in palliative care or in elderly care
cGPs who provided socio-demographics and palliative care related data