Variation in general practitioners’ information-seeking behaviour – a cross-sectional study on the influence of gender, age and practice form

Figures & data

Figure 1. Flowchart of the study population.

Table 3. Associations between frequent use of information sources and GP characteristics.

	Interpersonal sources		Printed sources			Online sources^c
	GP colleagues^a	Other medical specialists^b	Medical books^b	Medical journals^b	DCGP guidelines^b	Drug information websites^a	Medical websites^a
	OR adj. (95%CI)	OR adj. (95%CI)	OR adj. (95%CI)	OR adj. (95%CI)	OR adj. (95%CI)	OR adj. (95%CI)	OR adj. (95%CI)
Gender
Female	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Male	0.77 (0.58–1.01)	0.83 (0.66–1.05)	1.29 (1.04–1.61)^d	1.27 (0.98–1.63)	0.86 (0.68–1.08)	1.19 (0.94–1.51)	0.94 (0.73–1.23)
Age
<45	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
45–54	0.56 (0.38–0.81)^d	0.68 (0.49–0.93)^d	1.15 (0.85–1.54)	1.65 (1.19–2.28)^d	0.65 (0.48–0.90)^d	0.46 (0.33–0.64)^e	0.56 (0.38–0.82)^d
55–64	0.52 (0.36–0.75)^e	0.47 (0.34–0.64)^e	1.18 (0.88–1.57)	2.55 (1.83–3.55)^e	0.64 (0.47–0.87)^d	0.25 (0.18–0.36)^e	0.31 (0.21–0.45)^e
≥65	0.74 (0.41–1.36)	0.30 (0.18–0.50)^e	0.79 (0.49–1.25)	2.17 (1.27–3.70)^d	0.55 (0.34–0.89)^d	0.13 (0.07–0.23)^e	0.11 (0.06–0.21)^e
Practice form
Single-handed	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Partnership	17.68 (9.72–32.15)^e	1.23 (0.88–1.71)	0.79 (0.58–1.08)	1.20 (0.83–1.71)	1.36 (0.98–1.88)	1.20 (0.87–1.67)	1.04 (0.72–1.51)
Collaborative	17.22 (8.70–34.08)^e	1.30 (0.84–2.01)	0.89 (0.59–1.35)	0.97 (0.60–1.55)	0.96 (0.62–1.47)	1.05 (0.68–1.64)	1.01 (0.62–1.64)
N=	1407	1407	1406	1406	1406	1406	1406

^a Frequent use defined as daily use.

^b Frequent use defined as daily or weekly use.

^c Online sources are defined as only being available online whereas printed sources can exist both in print and online.

Adjusted for gender, age, practice form, workload and status as training practice.

^d p value <0.05.

^e p value <0.001.

Table 4. Associations between perceived importance^a of information sources and GP characteristics.

	Interpersonal sources					Printed sources			Online sources^b
	GP colleagues	Othermedical specialists	RefundableCME meetings	Non-refundableCME meetings	Pharmaceuticalrepresentatives	Medical books	Medical journals	DCGP guidelines	Drug informationwebsites	Medical websites
	OR adj. (95%CI)	OR adj. (95%CI)	OR adj. (95%CI)	OR adj. (95%CI)	OR adj. (95%CI)	OR adj. (95%CI)	OR adj. (95%CI)	OR adj. (95%CI)	OR adj. (95%CI)	OR adj. (95%CI)
Gender
Female	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Male	0.45 (0.33–0.63)^d	0.76 (0.58–0.98)^c	0.32 (0.19–0.52)^d	1.36 (1.06–1.73)^c	1.57 (1.12–2.21)^c	1.18 (0.92–1.51)	0.88 (0.67–1.15)	0.30 (0.17–0.54)^d	0.57 (0.39–0.83)^c	0.66 (0.38–1.14)
Age
<45	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
45–54	1.03 (0.67–1.58)	0.99 (0.69–1.42)	1.10 (0.61–1.98)	1.30 (0.93–1.82)	1.03 (0.62–1.70)	1.42 (1.03–1.95)^c	1.74 (1.22–2.47)^c	0.69 (0.34–1.38)	0.80 (0.43–1.51)	0.31 (0.09–1.01)
55–64	1.05 (0.70–1.57)	0.75 (0.54–1.05)	1.38 (0.79–2.43)	1.36 (0.98–1.88)	1.81 (1.14–2.88)^c	1.77 (1.29–2.42)^d	2.13 (1.50–3.02)^d	0.75 (0.39–1.44)	0.36 (0.20–0.62)^d	0.12 (0.04–0.37)^d
≥65	0.83 (0.47–1.48)	0.63 (0.38–1.04)	1.13 (0.52–2.45)	1.09 (0.65–1.82)	1.92 (0.98–3.78)	1.96 (1.15–3.34)^c	2.80 (1.52–5.16)^c	0.64 (0.26–1.57)	0.20 (0.10–0.39)^d	0.05 (0.01–0.20)^d
Practice form
Single-handed	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Partnership	2.11 (1.45–3.09)^d	0.81 (0.56–1.17)	1.29 (0.75–2.19)	0.79 (0.57–1.09)	0.66 (0.42–1.03)	0.69 (0.47–0.99)^c	0.98 (0.66–1.44)	1.91 (1.02–3.58)^c	1.01 (0.64–1.59)	0.92 (0.47–1.81)
Collaborative	3.40 (1.84–6.26)^d	0.79 (0.49–1.26)	1.04 (0.52–2.06)	0.66 (0.42–1.04)	0.94 (0.53–1.67)	0.71 (0.44–1.15)	1.10 (0.65–1.87)	0.75 (0.35–1.58)	1.72 (0.88–3.38)	0.96 (0.40–2.31)
N=	1392	1392	1392	1392	1392	1392	1392	1392	1392	1392

^a Perceived importance defined as “high importance” or “some importance” according to the answers given in the questionnaire.

^b Online sources are defined as only being available online whereas printed sources can exist both in print and online.

Adjusted for gender, age, practice form, workload and status as training practice.

^c p value <0.05.

^d p value <0.001.

Table 1. Study population^a.

	Respondents		Non-respondents
	N	%	N	%
Gender
Female	772	48.9	803	43.2
Male	808	51.1	1,057	56.8
Age
<45	350	22.2	380	20.4
45–54	483	30.6	517	27.8
55–64	622	39.4	737	39.6
≥65	125	7.9	225	12.1
Practice form
Single-handed	462	29.2	621	33.4
Partnership	1,118	70.8	1,239	66.6

^a Based on the Organisation of General Practitioners’ registers. Note that collaborative practice is not included as it is a self-reported variable and therefore only available in the survey data.

Table 2. GPs’ Use and perceived importance of information sources.

	Use				Perceived
	Daily		Daily/Weekly		importance
	N	%	N	%	N	%
Interpersonal sources
GP colleagues	703	50%	1055	75%	1149	83%
Other medical specialists	69	5%	661	47%	1047	75%
Refundable CME meetings	n.a		n.a		1261	91%
Non-refundable CME meetings	n.a		n.a		415	32%
Pharmaceutical representatives	n.a		n.a		238	17%
Printed sources
Medical books	197	14%	727	52%	934	67%
Medical journals	74	5%	1000	71%	1067	77%
DCGP guidelines	183	13%	799	57%	1252	90%
Online sources
Drug information websites	729	52%	1,044	74%	1236	89%
Medical websites	875	62%	1286	91%	1304	94%

n.a.: not applicable, not included in the questionnaire.