Table 2.
Characteristics of respondents and practice of SPHC referralsa
| Characteristics | Value | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Respondents - n | 1026 | |||
| Age - years Mean ± SD | 54.1 ± 9.4 | |||
| Gender - n (%) | ||||
| Male | 502 (49.0) | |||
| Female | 520 (50.8) | |||
| Work experience in the outpatient sector - years Mean ± SD | 20.2 ± 11.2 | |||
| Working hours/week - Mean ± SD | 46.9 ± 12.4 | |||
| Practice type - n (%) | ||||
| Single-handed | 510 (49.8) | |||
| Group practice | 467 (45.6) | |||
| Medical care centre | 47 (4.6) | |||
| Employed - n (%) | ||||
| Yes | 123 (12.0) | |||
| No | 887 (86.6) | |||
| Location of practice - n (%) | ||||
| Rural (≤ 5,000 inhabitants) | 264 (25.8) | |||
| Small town (> 5,000–20,000 inhabitants) | 290 (28.3) | |||
| Medium-sized town (> 20,000–100,000 inhabitants) | 198 (19.3) | |||
| Big city (> 100,000 inhabitants) | 264 (25.8) | |||
| Number of patients/quarter - Mean ± SD | 1130.3 ± 373.3 | |||
| Number of palliative patients/year - Mean ± SD | 18.4 ± 26.8 | |||
| Number of home visits/week - Mean ± SD | 15.3 ± 20.6 | |||
| Number of home visits/quarter within palliative patients - Mean ± SD | 15.1 ± 25.5 | |||
| GPs’ attitude towards palliative care | ||||
| bad | … | … | good | |
| Please assess your overall palliative competence/expertise! - n (%) | 20 (2.0) | 90 (8.8) | 533 (52.1) | 350 (34.2) |
| not true | rather not true | rather true | completly true | |
| Care of severe sick and dying patients should be a central part of GPs work. - n (%) | 34 (3.3) | 106 (10.4) | 219 (21.4) | 657 (64.2) |
| SPHC referral practice | ||||
| Have you ever referred SPHC (within your work as a GP)? | ||||
| Yes - n (%) | 847 (83.7) | |||
| No - n (%) | 163 (15.9) | |||
| Number of GPs’ SPHC referrals (follow-up referrals included) - Mean ± SD | 8.8 ± 11.9 | |||
| Number of SPHC referrals by other health care professionals - Mean ± SD | 3.7 ± 5.2 | |||
| never | … | … | always | |
| Do you regularly stay involved in palliative patients’ treatment after SPHC initiation? - n (%) | 53 (5.2) | 174 (17.0) | 298 (29.1) | 356 (34.8) |
| How often is one of your SPHC referrals denied (by MDK)? - n (%) | 653 (63.8) | 166 (16.2) | 31 (3.0) | 0 |
a Not all respondents answered every question. Percent does not add up to 100 due to rounding and non-responses
b Medical advisary service of Social Health Insurance (MDK: Medizinischer Dienst der Krankenkassen)