Table 4.

Factors associated with the total knowledge score among physicians in China

Variables	Coefficients [95%CI]
	Univariable	Multivariable
Gender
Male	Reference	Reference
Female	0.13 [0.07, 0.20]***	0.08 [0.01, 0.14]*
Age
18–25	Reference
26–35	0.11 [− 0.17, 0.38]
36–45	0.08 [− 0.20, 0.35]
46–55	0.03 [− 0.25, 0.32]
56–65	− 0.03 [− 0.35, 0.30]
66 +	0.22 [− 0.50, 0.93]	−
Birthplace
Urban area	Reference	−
Rural area	0.04 [− 0.06, 0.14]
Others	− 0.19 [− 1.20, 0.82]
Monthly income
< 5000	Reference	Reference
5000–10,000	0.15 [0.07, 0.23]***	0.11 [0.03, 0.18]**
10,000–30,000	0.17 [0.07, 0.28]**	0.14 [0.03, 0.25]*
30,000–50,000	0.12 [− 0.54, 0.78]	− 0.03 [− 0.62, 0.56]
> 50,000	0.06 [− 0.72, 0.85]	0.21 [− 0.48, 0.91]
Province
Jiangsu	Reference	Reference
Shandong	− 0.14 [− 0.25, − 0.03]*	− 0.10 [− 0.20, 0.00]
Jiangxi	− 0.07 [− 0.17, 0.02]	− 0.04 [− 0.13, 0.05]
Shanxi	− 0.16 [− 0.24, − 0.08]***	− 0.10 [− 0.18, − 0.03]**
Sichuan	− 0.01 [− 0.15, 0.13]	0.02 [− 0.11, 0.15]
Shannxi	− 0.14 [− 0.32, 0.04]	− 0.19 [− 0.36, − 0.01]*
Education
Secondary vocational school	Reference	Reference
Three-year college	1.14 [0.06, 2.22]*	0.36 [− 0.64, 1.37]
Bachelor	1.42 [0.41, 2.43]**	0.53 [− 0.41, 1.47]
Master	1.59 [0.58, 2.59]**	0.63 [− 0.31, 1.57]
Doctor/postdoc	1.58 [0.57, 2.59]**	0.61 [− 0.33, 1.56]
Title
Primary	Reference	−
Middle	− 0.02 [− 0.10, 0.06]
Vice-senior	− 0.01 [− 0.10, 0.08]
Senior	0.02 [− 0.09, 0.12]
None	0.18 [− 0.20, 0.56]
Working years
≤ 5	Reference	Reference
6–10	− 0.04 [− 0.13, 0.05]	− 0.05 [− 0.13, 0.03]
11–15	− 0.07 [− 0.17, 0.03]	0.00 [− 0.10, 0.09]
16–20	− 0.09 [− 0.19, 0.02]	− 0.05 [− 0.16, 0.05]
21–25	− 0.03 [− 0.14, 0.08]	0.01 [− 0.09, 0.12]
26–30	− 0.07 [− 0.21, 0.06]	− 0.04 [− 0.17, 0.09]
30 +	− 0.16 [− 0.32, − 0.01]*	− 0.18 [− 0.32, − 0.03]*
Hospital class
Primary hospital	Reference	Reference
Secondary hospital	0.38 [− 0.69, 1.44]	0.19 [− 0.79, 1.17]
Tertiary hospital	1.11 [0.24, 1.99]*	0.33 [− 0.48, 1.15]
Specialty
Internal medicine	Reference	Reference
Anesthesiology	− 0.53 [− 0.83, − 0.23]**	− 0.45 [− 0.72, − 0.17]**
Dermatology	0.23 [− 0.01, 0.46]	0.18 [− 0.04, 0.40]
Emergency medicine	− 0.15 [− 0.34, 0.03]	− 0.11 [− 0.29, 0.06]
Infectious disease	0.04 [− 0.17, 0.26]	− 0.06 [− 0.26, 0.14]
Intensive care unit	− 0.25 [− 0.44, − 0.06]*	− 0.20 [− 0.37, − 0.02]*
Laboratory department	− 0.32 [− 1.31, 0.68]	− 0.13 [− 1.03, 0.77]
Obstetrics and gynecology	− 0.26 [− 0.41, − 0.10]**	− 0.15 [− 0.30, − 0.01]*
Oncology	− 0.28 [− 0.49, − 0.08]**	− 0.38 [− 0.56, − 0.19]***
Ophthalmology	− 0.03 [− 0.24, 0.18]	0.00 [− 0.20, 0.20]
Orthopedic surgery, medical cosmetology	− 0.26 [− 0.78, 0.26]	− 0.20 [− 0.66, 0.27]
Otolaryngology	− 0.39 [− 0.68, − 0.10]**	− 0.46 [− 0.72, − 0.20]**
Pain medicine	0.18 [− 0.52, 0.89]	0.36 [− 0.27, 0.99]
Pathology	− 0.11 [− 0.72, 0.50]	− 0.44 [− 1.00, 0.11]
Pediatrics	− 0.02 [− 0.13, 0.09]	0.08 [− 0.02, 0.19]
Psychiatry	− 0.51 [− 0.93, − 0.09]*	− 0.43 [− 0.81, − 0.05]*
Radiology	− 0.36 [− 0.52, − 0.21]***	− 0.16 [− 0.30, − 0.02]*
Sports medicine, rehabilitation	− 0.45 [− 0.64, − 0.26]***	− 0.16 [− 0.33, 0.02]
Stomatology	− 0.47 [− 0.79, − 0.15]**	− 0.63 [− 0.93, − 0.34]***
Surgery	− 0.34 [− 0.44, − 0.24]***	− 0.24 [− 0.34, − 0.14]***
Traditional Chinese medicine	− 0.50 [− 0.78, − 0.22]***	− 0.19 [− 0.45, 0.06]
Others	− 0.15 [− 0.32, 0.03]	− 0.06 [− 0.22, 0.10]
Rare disease type
Albinism	Reference	Reference
Osteogenesis imperfecta	− 0.29 [− 0.45, − 0.13]***	− 0.28 [− 0.44, − 0.12]**
Homozygous hypercholesterolemia	− 0.27 [− 0.59, 0.05]	− 0.42 [− 0.74, − 0.10]*
Duchenne muscular dystrophy	0.11 [− 0.10, 0.31]	− 0.09 [− 0.30, 0.12]
Multiple sclerosis	− 0.53 [− 0.64, − 0.42]***	− 0.64 [− 0.75, − 0.52]***
Fabry disease	0.26 [− 0.09, 0.62]	0.07 [− 0.28, 0.42]
Hepatolenticular degeneration	0.38 [0.27, 0.48]***	0.25 [0.13, 0.36]***
Gaucher disease	0.15 [− 0.25, 0.55]	− 0.04 [− 0.43, 0.36]
Huntington disease	− 0.02 [− 0.41, 0.36]	− 0.03 [− 0.41, 0.35]
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis	− 0.22 [− 0.38, − 0.07]**	− 0.33 [− 0.49, − 0.17]***
Spinocerebellar ataxia	− 0.65 [− 1.06, − 0.24]**	− 0.69 [− 1.10, − 0.29]**
Spinal muscular atrophy	− 0.39 [− 0.68, − 0.09]*	− 0.50 [− 0.80, − 0.21]**
Spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy	− 1.04 [− 1.82, − 0.25]**	− 1.00 [− 1.78, − 0.23]*
Tuberous sclerosis complex	0.03 [− 0.24, 0.29]	− 0.10 [− 0.37, 0.16]
Kallmann syndrome	0.02 [− 0.29, 0.34]	− 0.14 [− 0.46, 0.17]
Langerhans cell histiocytosis	0.60 [0.44, 0.77]***	0.55 [0.38, 0.72]***
Lymphangioleiomyomatosis	− 0.12 [− 0.34, 0.10]	− 0.28 [− 0.50, − 0.06]*
Marfan syndrome	0.07 [− 0.06, 0.19]	0.00 [− 0.13, 0.12]
Niemann-Pick disease	0.71 [0.26, 1.17]**	0.64 [0.18, 1.09]**
Mucopolysaccharidosis	0.55 [− 0.10, 1.19]	0.31 [− 0.32, 0.95]
Prader–Willi syndrome	− 0.53 [− 0.77, − 0.29]***	− 0.79 [− 1.04, − 0.55]***
General myathenic gravis	0.08 [− 0.07, 0.22]	0.05 [− 0.10, 0.20]
Neuromyelitis optica	0.20 [0.02, 0.38]*	0.03 [− 0.16, 0.21]
Type II glycogen storage disease	− 0.45 [− 1.36, 0.45]	− 0.66 [− 1.55, 0.23]
Idiopathic hypogonadotropic hypogonadism	− 0.09 [− 0.33, 0.14]	− 0.28 [− 0.52, − 0.05]*
Idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension	0.48 [0.34, 0.62]***	0.33 [0.19, 0.48]***
Systemic sclerosis	0.50 [0.36, 0.65]***	0.32 [0.17, 0.47]***
Congenital adrenal hypoplasia	0.24 [− 0.01, 0.48]	0.01 [− 0.23, 0.26]
Hemophilia	0.64 [0.52, 0.76]***	0.58 [0.46, 0.69]***
Hereditary epidermolysis bullosa	− 0.35 [− 0.69, − 0.02]*	− 0.52 [− 0.85, − 0.19]**
Severe myoclonic epilepsy in infaricy	− 0.45 [− 1.10, 0.19]	− 0.54 [− 1.18, 0.09]
Hyperphenylalaninemia	0.01 [− 0.69, 0.72]	− 0.19 [− 0.88, 0.50]
Phenylketonuria	− 1.13 [− 1.32, − 0.93]***	− 1.18 [− 1.38, − 0.97]***
Tetrahydrobiopterin deficiency	− 0.79 [− 2.35, 0.78]	− 1.05 [− 2.59, 0.48]

*p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001

^–Not included in the multiple linear regression analysis