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. 2021 Apr 12;11(4):e044591. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-044591

Table 1.

Physicians’ characteristics and dementia care practice patterns (n=66)*

Female sex, % 73
Age, mean (SD) 48 (11)
Experience as a physician, mean (SD) 21 (11)
Resident trainee, % 17
Supervisor,% 53
Care for patients with dementia; frequency, %
 At least daily 56
 At least weekly 34
 At least monthly 6
 At least every 2 months 3
 At least every 6 months 0
 <Every 6 months 0
Care for patients with dementia; stage of disease, %
 Mostly early stage (mild dementia) 8
 Both early and late (moderate or advanced) stage, about equally distributed 39
 Mostly late (moderate or advanced) stage 53
Estimation of patients with dementia dying in the past year, %
 0 2
 1–4 27
 5–9 25
 10–19 34
 20 or more 13

Significant differences (p<0.05) between GPs and elderly care practitioners were not observed for sex, trainee or supervisor status (χ2), age and experience (t-test). With the hierarchical gamma test there were differences between the last three items; elderly care physicians cared for patients with dementia more frequently (eg, daily 70% vs 22%), cared for patients in later stages (eg, advanced stage 70% vs 11%) and more patients with dementia died in their practice in the past year (eg, 20 or more 17% vs 0).

*Two of 66 respondents missed characteristics other than sex and age. GP (n=18) included two general practice-based assistant practitioners (often nurses or social workers, referred in the Netherlands as ‘praktijkondersteuner huisarts’, POH). Elderly care practitioners (n=48) included 46 elderly care physicians, a geriatrician and a geriatric nurse. Experience refers to experience as a physician and was missing for the general practice-based assistant practitioners (POH) and the nurse.

GP, general practitioner.