Table 3

 Variables associated with experience of ethics, satisfaction with the resolution of an ethical difficulty and perception of help as useful in bivariate analysis

CharacteristicsDoctors (n = 656)
Experience with ethical difficulties*Satisfaction with the resolution of a case*Perception of help as useful*
HighLowp ValueHighLowp ValueYesNop Value
NA, not applicable.
Percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number.
Values in bold show significant differences.
*Statistical tests from continuous variables.
Age in years 50 53 <0.01 50520.11 50 54 0.01
    Sex (%) female18140.1911160.43 14 5.1 <0.01
    Years in practice 23 26 <0.01 24250.2724280.11
Specialty (%) <0.01 0.870.05
    None 21 79 64367525
    Internal medicine 53 47 46548911
    General medicine 51 49 48527723
    Family medicine 36 64 48528317
Country (%) <0.01 0.150.04
    Italy 36 64 46548515
    Norway 44 56 45558119
    Switzerland 48 52 45558120
    UK 61 39 56448416
Training in ethics (%)58480.02660530.5857560.71
Confidence about knowledge in ethics, score33.10.1063.13.00.30 3 3.4 <0.01
Hospital based (%) 48 29 <0.01 43400.2543250.037
No. of hours a week spent in inpatient care 20 13 <0.01 18160.16 18 9.3 <0.01
No. of hours a week spent in outpatient care 24 28 <0.01 25250.27 24 30 <0.01
Appointment with a university department (%)18200.7121170.3717210.05
Experience with ethical difficulties, scoreNANANA 10 11.1 <0.01 10.9 8.6 <0.01
Satisfaction with the resolution of a case, score 5.6 6.1 <0.01 NANANA 5.8 6.7 <0.01
Perception of help as useful, score 12.2 9.8 <0.01 8.9 12.6 <0.01 NANANA
Admitting hospital
    Not for profit (%)49510.13 88 79 <0.01 85750.68
    Public (%)95930.8995910.5694940.82
    Teaching hospital (%)45460.8050440.2845490.30