Table 3.
Covariates included in the interrupted time-series analysis
| Variable | Description | Form | Role |
| Region | ID of region (Israel orOntario, Canada) | ID | Random intercept |
| Veterinary clinic | ID of the veterinary clinic | ID (nested within region) | Random intercept |
| Type of veterinary clinic | Multiclinic practice vs single clinic practice | Categorical | Fixed effect |
| Veterinarian | ID of veterinarians | ID (nested within practice group) | Random intercept |
| Age of the veterinarian | Age of the veterinarian when they enrol in the study | Integer | Covariate |
| Sex of the veterinarian | Male vs female | Binary | Covariate |
| Employment status of veterinarian | Part time vs full time employment of the veterinarian | Binary | Covariate |
| Experience of the veterinarian | Years of practice of veterinarian | Integer | Covariate |
| Place of study of the veterinarian | Continent where the veterinarians did their study | Categorical | Covariate |
| Seasonality | Month | Categorical | Random slope |
| Veterinarian characteristics | Age, sex, and employment status (part time or full time) | Categorical | Fixed effect |
| Patient composition | Age group (percentage of animals that are up to 1 year and percentage of animals that are adult), species (percentage of patients that are canine vs feline vs bovine), sex (percentage of patients that are female), and production stage of dairy cattle (lactating cow vs dry cow) | Categorical | Fixed effect |
ID= Identity