Table 3.
Contingency tables and univariable logistic regression results for demographic variables associated with an increase in ethically challenging situations encountered since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, in a global survey of veterinary team members (n = 540).
| Variable category | Increased ECS | B | SE(b) | Odds ratio | 95% CI | p-value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Increased (row %) | No change or decreased (row %) | ||||||
| Role | |||||||
| Veterinarian | 181 (42.8) |
242 (57.2) |
−0.87 | 0.22 | 0.4 | 0.3; 0.6 | <0.001 |
| Nurse/Technician/other | 75 (64.1) |
42 (35.9) |
0 | – | 1 | – | – |
| Gender | |||||||
| Female | 216 (49.8) |
218 (50.2) |
0.55 | 0.23 | 1.7 | 1.1;2.8 | 0.015 |
| Male | 37 (36.3) |
65 (63.7) |
0 | – | 1 | – | – |
| Missing: 4 | |||||||
| Region/group of countries | 0.001 | ||||||
| Australia and NZ | 135 (41.2) |
193 (58.8) |
0 | – | 1 | – | – |
| USA and Canada | 89 (58.9) |
62 (41.1) |
0.72 | 0.20 | 2.1 | 1.4;3.0 | – |
| Other: EU, Asia, Caribbean, Africa | 32 (52.5) |
29 (47.5) |
−0.46 | 0.28 | 1.6 | 0.9; 2.7 | – |
| Hours worked | 0.088 | ||||||
| 0–30 h/week | 46 (39.7) |
70 (60.3) |
−0.30 | 0.23 | 0.7 | 0.5;1.2 | – |
| 31–40 h/week | 98 (52.7) |
88 (47.3) |
0.23 | 0.20 | 1.3 | 0.9; 1.8 | – |
| 41–50 h/week | 112 (47.1) |
126 (52.9) |
0 | – | 1 | – | – |
| Caseload | <0.001 | ||||||
| Companion animal practice | 197 (53.7) |
170 (46.3) |
1.06 | 0.29 | 2.9 | 1.7;5.0 | - |
| Clinical practice (non-companion animal) | 39 (37.9) |
64 (62.1) |
0.42 | 0.33 | 1.5 | 0.8; 2.9 | - |
| Other | 20 (28.6) |
50 (71.4) |
0 | 1 | – | ||
| Ethics training for qualification | 0.959 | ||||||
| Yes | 138 (47.1) |
155 (52.9) |
−0.07 | 0.25 | 0.9 | 0.6; 1.5 | – |
| No | 76 (47.2) |
85 (52.8) |
−0.66 | 0.27 | 0.9 | 0.6;1.6 | – |
| Don't recall | 42 (48.8) |
44 (51.2) |
0 | – | 1 | – | – |
| Post-qualification ethics training | 0.519 | ||||||
| Yes | 127 (48.8) |
133 (51.2) |
0.11 | 0.17 | 1.1 | 0.8; 1.6 | – |
| No | 129 (46.1) |
151 (53.9) |
0 | – | 1 | – | – |
| Confidence in resolving ECS | 0.001 | ||||||
| Not confident at all/underconfident | 48 (60.8%) |
31 (39.2%) |
0.92 | 0.27 | 2.5 | 1.5; 4.2 | – |
| Confident enough that I can get by | 120 (51.9%) |
111 (48.1%) |
0.56 | 0.19 | 1.7 | 1.2; 2.5 | – |
| Reasonably confident/couldn't be more confident | 88 (38.3%) |
142 (61.7%) |
0 | – | 1 | – | – |
| Autonomy in decision making | 0.001 | ||||||
| Never/Rarely | 33 (66.0) |
17 (34.0) |
0 | – | 1 | – | – |
| Sometimes | 62 (56.4) |
48 (43.6) |
−0.41 | 0.36 | 0.7 | 0.3; 1.3 | – |
| Mostly/always | 161 (42.4) |
219 (57.6) |
−0.97 | 0.32 | 0.4 | 0.2; 0.7 | – |