Table 4.
Association between diarrhoea related practice of participating physician (N = 264) and other factors
| Physician and their patient-related factors | Category | Considering severity as the most important factor for prescribing antibiotic | Prescribing antibiotic to each of the diarrhoea patients | Prescribing antibiotic to each of the cholera patients | Advising laboratory test of stool to each diarrhoea patients | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OR (95% CI) | P value | OR (95% CI) | P value | OR (95% CI) | P value | OR (95% CI) | P value | ||
| Gender | Male | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Female | 1·26 (0·42–3·79) | 0·687 | 0·38 (0·14–1·02) | 0·055 | 1·07 (0·35–3·33) | 0·902 | 0·88 (0·36–2·15) | 0·779 | |
| Qualification | None | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| AM | 1·82 (0·88–3·74) | 0·105 | 1·91 (0·92–3·94) | 0·081 | 1·50 (0·59–3·80) | 0·398 | 5·77 (2·75–12·14) | <0·001 | |
| MBBS | 2·69 (1·20–6·06) | 0·017 | 0·30 (0·14–0·63) | 0·002 | 0·72 (0·30–1·75) | 0·471 | 1·41 (0·68–2·94) | 0·361 | |
| Postgraduate | 4·23 (1·63–10·97) | 0·003 | 0·20 (0·09–0·46) | <0·001 | 0·56 (0·23–1·36) | 0·199 | 2·93 (1·35–6·34) | 0·006 | |
| Type of physician based on attachment | Pharmacist | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| None | 17·95 (2·12–152·02) | 0·008 | 0·29 (0·08–0·98) | 0·047 | 5·33 (0·61–46·85) | 0·131 | 0·70 (0·21–2·37) | 0·567 | |
| Private sector | 4·00 (1·91–8·38) | <.001 | 0·51 (0·23–1·11) | 0·089 | 1·25 (0·52–2·97) | 0·620 | 1·87 (0·88–3·98) | 0·103 | |
| Govt. sector | 16·84 (1·98–143·26) | 0·010 | 0·24 (0·07–0·86) | 0·029 | 2·33 (0·43–12·57) | 0·324 | 1·29 (0·39–4·28) | 0·682 | |
| Years of practice | <1 yr | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1–4 yr | 0·65 (0·05–7·88) | 0·736 | 8·00 (0·69–92·70) | 0·096 | 2·67 (0·18–39·63) | 0·476 | 6·00 (0·51–70·67) | 0·155 | |
| 5–9 yr | 0·58 (0·05–6·13) | 0·648 | 2·40 (0·31–18·65) | 0·403 | 3·07 (0·27–35·33) | 0·369 | 3·96 (0·39–40·65) | 0·248 | |
| >10 yr | 1·27 (0·12–12·91) | 0·843 | 0·66 (0·09–4·79) | 0·682 | 1·08 (0·11–10·66) | 0·947 | 3·59 (0·37–35·10) | 0·273 | |
| Average age group of patients treated | 0–5 yr | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 5–15 yr | 0·91 (0·42–1·98) | 0·808 | 0·72 (0·36–1·45) | 0·358 | 0·78 (0·35–1·72) | 0·532 | 0·96 (0·48–1·90) | 0·895 | |
| ⩾15 yr | 1·04 (0·54–1·99) | 0·906 | 1·78 (1·02–3·11) | 0·042 | 1·29 (0·64–2·59) | 0·482 | 0·72 (0·41–1·26) | 0·249 | |
| Average socioeconomic status of patients treated | Very low | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Low | 1·69 (0·77–3·69) | 0·191 | 1·21 (0·60–2·46) | 0·596 | 0·73 (0·28–1·90) | 0·523 | 0·63 (0·30–1·32) | 0·221 | |
| Middle | 1·23 (0·52–2·93) | 0·635 | 0·57 (0·25–1·27) | 0·168 | 0·68 (0·24–1·92) | 0·460 | 0·54 (0·24–1·22) | 0·135 | |
| Average knowledge of patients treated | Very low | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Low | 0·77 (0·38–1·56) | 0·464 | 1·63 (0·90–2·92) | 0·105 | 0·89 (0·43–1·85) | 0·746 | 0·76 (0·42–1·36) | 0·353 | |
| Good | 0·89 (0·34–2·33) | 0·809 | 0·75 (0·33–1·70) | 0·487 | 1·08 (0·38–3·02) | 0·890 | 1·26 (0·55–2·86) | 0·589 | |
| Average dehydration of patients treated | Severe | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Some | 0·87 (0·36–2·10) | 0·762 | 2·17 (1·01–4·70) | 0·049 | 1·77 (0·73–4·28) | 0·206 | 1·38 (0·65–2·94) | 0·399 | |
| Mild/no | 1·22 (0·48–3·11) | 0·674 | 1·15 (0·51–2·56) | 0·741 | 1·25 (0·51–3·09) | 0·626 | 1·59 (0·72–3·49) | 0·251 | |
OR, Odds ratio; CI, confidence interval; AM, alternative medicine/equivalent quack practitioners' training in India; MBBS, medical graduation qualification in India.
Bold values indicate associations for which corresponding P values are <0·05.
–, Indicates reference group.