Table 1.
Demographic characteristics and clinical practice setting of respondents to global cancer WHO Essential Medicines List survey, stratified by World Bank economic classification
| Total (n=948) | Low-income and lower-middle-income countries (n=165) | Upper-middle-income countries (n=165) | High-income countries (n=618) | p value | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Demographics | ||||||
| Sex | ||||||
| Male | 544/825 (66%) | 101/136 (74%) | 94/142 (66%) | 349/547 (64%) | 0·070 | |
| Female | 281/825 (34%) | 35/136 (26%) | 48/142 (34%) | 198/547 (36%) | .. | |
| Mean age, years | 47 (10) | 44 (9) | 48 (11) | 47 (10) | 0·0076* | |
| Mean years in practice | 14 (10) | 11 (9) | 15 (12) | 14 (10) | 0·0002† | |
| Clinical practice setting | ||||||
| Specialty | ||||||
| Medical oncology | 714 (75%) | 91 (55%) | 110 (67%) | 514 (83%) | <0·0001 | |
| Radiation oncology | 26 (3%) | 17 (10%) | 2 (1%) | 7 (1%) | .. | |
| Clinical oncology | 159 (17%) | 46 (28%) | 51 (31%) | 63 (10%) | .. | |
| Other‡ | 49 (5%) | 11 (7%) | 2 (1%) | 34 (6%) | .. | |
| Health system | ||||||
| Public | 474/828 (57%) | 51/137 (37%) | 38/144 (26%) | 385/547 (70%) | <0·0001 | |
| Private | 208/828 (25%) | 51/137 (37%) | 59/144 (41%) | 98/547 (18%) | .. | |
| Both | 146/828 (18%) | 35/137 (26%) | 47/144 (33%) | 64/547 (12%) | .. | |
| Location | ||||||
| Urban | 731/828 (88%) | 117/137 (85%) | 133/144 (92%) | 481/547 (88%) | 0·15 | |
| Rural | 33/828 (4%) | 9/137 (7%) | 1/144 (1%) | 23/547 (4%) | .. | |
| Both | 64/828 (8%) | 11/137 (8%) | 10/144 (7%) | 43/547 (8%) | .. | |
| Type of cancer | ||||||
| Solid | 612/827 (74%) | 52/136 (38%) | 119/144 (83%) | 441/547 (81%) | <0·0001 | |
| Haematological | 55/827 (7%) | 9/136 (7%) | 3/144 (2%) | 43/547 (8%) | .. | |
| Both | 160/827 (19%) | 75/136 (55%) | 22/144 (15%) | 63/547 (12%) | .. | |
| Academic centre | ||||||
| Yes | 580/826 (70%) | 107/135 (79%) | 90/144 (63%) | 383/547 (70%) | 0·0091 | |
| No | 246/826 (30%) | 28/135 (21%) | 54/144 (38%) | 164/547 (30%) | .. | |
| Base of practice | ||||||
| Hospital based | 714/826 (86%) | 113/136 (83%) | 94/144 (65%) | 507/546 (93%) | <0·0001 | |
| Clinic based | 40/826 (5%) | 2/136 (2%) | 20/144 (14%) | 18/546 (3%) | .. | |
| Both | 72/826 (9%) | 21/136 (15%) | 30/144 (21%) | 21/546 (4%) | .. | |
| Number of cancer sites treated | ||||||
| 1 | 218/827 (26%) | 14/136 (10%) | 10/144 (7%) | 194/547 (36%) | <0·0001 | |
| 2 | 99/827 (12%) | 5/136 (4%) | 8/144 (6%) | 86/547 (16%) | .. | |
| ≥3 | 510/827 (62%) | 117/136 (86%) | 126/144 (88%) | 267/547 (49%) | .. | |
| Type of therapy | ||||||
| Systemic | 803 (85%) | 100 (61%) | 137 (83%) | 566 (92%) | <0·0001 | |
| Both systemic and radiotherapy | 145 (15%) | 65 (39%) | 28 (17%) | 52 (8%) | .. | |
| Population treated | ||||||
| Adults only | 827 (87%) | 68 (41%) | 155 (94%) | 604 (98%) | <0·0001 | |
| Adults and children | 121 (13%) | 97 (59%) | 10 (6%) | 14 (2%) | .. | |
Data are n (%), n/N (%), or mean (SD). The denominator for each variable is the total number of participants as indicated in the column heading unless otherwise noted due to missing responses. Several respondents were missing much of these data since they did not complete the entire survey; percentages were calculated on the basis of those respondents who did provide a response. For low-income and lower-middle-income countries, 67 respondents were missing data for years in practice and 29 for age. For upper-middle-income countries, 60 respondents were missing data for years in practice and 23 for age. For high-income countries, 278 respondents were missing data for years in practice and 74 for age. The χ2 percentages are based on the subset with responses, as are the p values.
Upper-middle-income countries and high-income countries did not differ significantly; low-income and lower-middle-income countries differed from upper-middle-income countries (p=0·0014) and from high-income countries (p=0·0002), Tukey's post-hoc test.
Upper-middle-income countries and high-income countries did not differ significantly; low-income and lower-middle-income countries differed from upper-middle-income countries (p=0·015) and from high-income countries (p=0·012), Tukey's post-hoc test.
Other specialties (n=47) included 22 haematologists, seven surgeons, three dermatologists, three gynaecologists, two gastroenterologists, one neuro-oncologist, and nine unstated.