Table 1.
Characteristics of primary care doctors
| Public (n = 221) | Private (n = 239) | |
|---|---|---|
| Doctor characteristics | ||
| Sex, n (%) | ||
| Male | 85 (38.5) | 157 (65.7) |
| Female | 136 (61.5) | 82 (34.3) |
| Age group, n (%) | ||
| ≤ 30 | 139 (62.9) | 3 (1.3) |
| 31–40 | 72 (32.6) | 42 (17.6) |
| 41–50 | 9 (4.1) | 76 (31.8) |
| 51–60 | 1 (0.5) | 59 (24.7) |
| > 60 | – | 59 (24.7) |
| Mean (SD) | 30.7 (4.4) | 51.2 (11.2) |
| Born in Malaysia, n (%) | 213 (96.4) | 226 (94.6) |
| Practice characteristics | ||
| Practice sizea, mean (SD) | 60 546.7 (55 959.0) | 15 153.3 (9 652.0) |
| Location, n (%) | ||
| Urban | 101 (45.7) | 224 (93.7) |
| Rural | 120 (54.3) | 15 (6.3) |
| Solo practice, n (%) | 36 (16.3) | 108 (45.2) |
| Working hours per week, mean (SD) | 41.0 (2.0) | 37.2 (7.4) |
| Hours spent per week on direct patient care, mean (SD) | 37.8 (4.9) | 35.5 (8.1) |
| Number of patient contact per day, mean (SD) | ||
| Face-to-face | 43.1 (21.4) | 39.6 (18.8) |
| By telephone | 1.2 (2.5) | 1.6 (2.3) |
| Number of on-call duties in the past 3 months, mean (SD) | ||
| Evening (1700–2200 hours) | 5.1 (7.0) | 11.0 (9.1) |
| Overnight (2200–0800 hours) | 4.4 (7.3) | 1.0 (3.9) |
| Weekend | 2.0 (2.7) | 3.7 (2.9) |
| Total | 11.5 (16.3) | 15.7 (11.5) |
| Total on-call hours in the past 3 months, mean (SD) | 106.0 (163.6) | 63.0 (53.6) |
| Number of out-of-office visits per week, mean (SD) | ||
| Other primary care clinic | 17.5 (37.1) | 6.4 (25.2) |
| Home visit | 0.1 (1.1) | 0.4 (1.2) |
| Institutions (school, orphanage, community centre) | 3.4 (16.0) | 1.0 (6.0) |
| Average consultation time (minutes), mean (SD) | 11.2 (5.2) | 12.6 (5.4) |
Abbreviation: SD standard deviation
aEstimated practice size is based on the total number of patients visited the clinics in the previous year