Table 1.

Characteristics (gender, age, years of experience, type and area of practice) of the participating GPs

		Dutch	Flemish	Total
Gender	Male	8	10	18
	Female	4	5	9
Age groups	35–39	1	2	3
	40–44	4	0	4
	45–49	0	4	4
	50–54	1	2	3
	55–59	5	2	7
	59–65	1	4	5
	> 65	0	1	1
Years of experience		20.6 (2.5–36)	26.7 (10–40)	24.0 (2.5–40) a
Type of practice	Single	4	4	8
	Duo	5	4	9
	Group	3	7	10
Area of practice	Urban	8	6	14
	Rural	4	9	13

Through purposive sampling we aimed to attain a heterogeneous group, including both female and male GPs, GPs working in both rural and urban regions and in single, duo and group practices. One participating GP had only 2,5 years of experience. Yet the data derived from this interview were maintained, since these were in line with the data from the more experienced GPs. Single, duo, group practices refer to GP practices managed by respectively one, two and more GPs. Abbreviations: GP general practitioner, N number. ^a Mean followed by the range in brackets