Table 1 .
Sociodemographic and professional characteristics of physicians providing or not providing integrative medicine (IM) (n = 180)
| Variable | Providers of IM treatments | Not providers of IM treatments | P |
|---|---|---|---|
| Participants (n, %) | 146 (81%) | 34 (19%) | |
| Age (mean, SD) | 44.9 (11.9) | 41.1 (10.4) | 0.114 |
| Age (median, range) | 44 (20–74) | 37 (28–67) | |
| Gender (n, %) | |||
| Male | 25 (17%) | 23 (67%) | |
| Female | 95 (65%) | 7 (21%) | |
| Missing | 26 (18%) | 4 (12%) | |
| Academic qualifications (n, %) | |||
| Doctoral degree | 70 (48%) | 18 (53%) | |
| Adjunct professor | 3 (2%) | 2 (6%) | |
| Professor | 6 (4%) | 2 (6%) | |
| No doctoral degree** | 39 (27%) | 8 (23%) | |
| Missing | 28 (19%) | 4 (12%) | |
| Educational status (n, %) | |||
| Resident | 26 (18%) | 10 (29%) | |
| Specialist | 89 (61%) | 20 (59%) | |
| Missing | 31 (21%) | 4 (12%) | |
| Additional qualifications (n)* | |||
| Acupuncture | 21 | 2 | |
| Anthroposophic medicine | 26 | 0 | |
| Emergency medical aid | 1 | 0 | |
| Homeopathy | 7 | 0 | |
| Naturopathic treatments | 28 | 1 | |
| Nutritional medicine | 6 | 4 | |
| Psycho-oncology, psychosomatic medicine, psychotherapy | 15 | 4 | |
| Other | 27 | 5 | |
| Years of professional work (mean, SD) | 15.3 (10.2) | 13.2 (9.9) | |
| Years of professional work (median, range) | 14 (0–40) | 10 (1–36) | |
| Workplace (n) * | |||
| Office-based | 54 | 7 | |
| Hospital-based | 73 | 22 | |
| Missing | 19 | 5 | |
| Certified breast cancer center (n, %) | |||
| Yes | 60 (41%) | 17 (50%) | |
| No | 51 (35%) | 13 (38%) | |
| No information | 3 (2%) | 0 (0%) | |
| Missing | 32 (22%) | 4 (12%) | |
| Certified gynecological-oncology center (n, %) | |||
| Yes | 49 (34%) | 12 (35%) | |
| No | 55 (38%) | 16 (47%) | |
| No information | 5 (3%) | 1 (3%) | |
| Missing | 37 (25%) | 5 (15%) | |
| Location of the office (n, %) | |||
| Large city (population > 100,000) | 55 (38%) | 23 (67%) | |
| Medium-sized City (population 20,000–100,000) | 36 (25%) | 4 (12%) | |
| Town (population 5000–20,000) | 24 (16%) | 1 (3%) | |
| Rural region (population < 5000) | 2 (1%) | 1 (3%) | |
| Missing | 29 (20%) | 5 (15%) |
*Multiple responses possible, therefore no percentages are reported
**In Germany, an MD is not automatically awarded upon completion of medical school. As this degree is awarded only after an additional exam has been passed, it is possible to practice as a physician without having an MD