Physician Perceptions on Colonoscopy Quality: Results of a National Survey of Gastroenterologists

Table 1

Characteristics of physician respondents & nonrespondents.

Characteristic	Respondents^a	Nonrespondents^a	𝑃 value
AMA data
Age, median (25th, 75th percentile)	52.0 (42.5, 59.0)	50.0 (41.0, 58.0)	0.17
Sex
Male	136 (87.2%)	925 (86.8%)	0.89
Female	20 (12.8%)	141 (13.2%)
Years in practice
≤5 years	28 (18.5%)	212 (20.4%)	0.17
>5 years	123 (81.5%)	825 (79.6%)
Gastroenterology board certification^b
Yes	136 (91.3%)	862 (87.5%)	0.19
No	13 (8.72%)	123 (12.5%)
Practice setting^c
Solo practice	21 (12.6%)	145 (12.4%)	0.59
Group practice	97 (58.1%)	635 (54.1%)
Employed	20 (12.0%)	135 (11.5%)
Other/missing	29 (17.4%)	258 (22.0%)
Survey data
Practice setting
Academic	38 (23.0%)
Private	111 (67.3%)	n/a	n/a
Mixed	16 (9.7%)
Average number of colonoscopies/week
<10	19 (11.6%)	n/a	n/a
10–20	72 (43.9%)
21–30	51 (31.1%)
31–40	16 (9.8%)
>40	6 (3.7%)
Proportion of practice made up of colonoscopy
<25%	33 (20.0%)	n/a	n/a
25–50%	89 (53.9%)
51–75%	36 (21.8%)
76–100%	7 (4.2%)
Productivity bonus?
Yes	81 (49.7%)	n/a	n/a
No	82 (50.3%)
Receive feedback on quality of colonoscopy
Yes	62 (38.8%)	n/a	n/a
No	98 (61.2%)

aFor the nonresponse analysis, AMA Masterfile data were available for 167 respondents and 1173 nonrespondents.
^bAfter including only providers who might be expected to obtain certification in this specialty (internal medicine, gastroenterology, hepatology, and colorectal surgery).
^cPractice setting data was missing in AMA Masterfile in 28 (16.8%) of respondents and 253 (21.6%) of nonrespondents. Practice setting was categorized using AMA classifications as solo practice (self-employed solo practice), group practice (two physician practice-owner, group practice), employed (HMO, medical school, nongovernmental hospital, government hospital), or others.