Bivariate Comparison of Rheumatologists
| Pediatric Only (n = 20; % or Mean [SD]) | Unadjusted P Pediatric vs All Internists | Internists Involved In Care of Children (n = 78; % or Mean [SD]) | Internists Only (n = 134; % or Mean [SD]) | Unadjusted P Value* Internists Who Treat Children vs Internists Only | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Personal characteristics | |||||
| Male | 50.0 | .04 | 67.6 | 75.2 | NS |
| Age | 49.3 (7.6) | NS | 50.7 (9.2) | 51.5 (11.3) | NS |
| Nonwhite | 5.0 | .05 | 21.3 | 25.8 | NS |
| Years in practice | 16.0 (8.7) | NS | 17.2 (9.3) | 17.9 (11.1) | NS |
| Training characteristics | |||||
| Exposure to pediatrics during fellowship | |||||
| None | 5.3 | N/A | 17.8 | 24.6 | NS |
| Minimal | 5.3 | 48.0 | 40.2 | ||
| Moderate | 5.3 | 26.0 | 31.2 | ||
| Extensive | 84.2 | 8.2 | 4.1 | ||
| Practice characteristics | |||||
| Practice setting | |||||
| Private practice | 15.0 | <.001 | 53.3 | 52.3 | .076 |
| Academic rheumatology | 50.0 | 14.7 | 22.0 | ||
| HMO | 0.0 | 10.7 | 15.2 | ||
| Multispecialty clinic | 15.0 | 20.0 | 7.6 | ||
| Other | 20.0 | 1.3 | 3.0 | ||
| Percentage of time in professional activities | |||||
| Rheumatology care | 58.3 (30.6) | .02 | 77.9 (25.4) | 68.9 (30.9) | .07 |
| Primary care | 5.6 (21.3) | .08 | 5.1 (12.7) | 9.2 (19.1) | NS |
| Research | 14.9 (20.3) | <.001 | 7.2 (18.6) | 9.2 (21.4) | NS |
| Teaching | 12.7 (20.1) | <.001 | 3.8 (6.6) | 3.7 (5.9) | NS |
| Other | 8.4 (8.3) | .06 | 5.9 (10.8) | 8.9 (16.5) | NS |
| Patients’ insurance status | |||||
| Medicaid | 37.5 (25.1) | <.001 | 8.2 (10.9) | 11.5 (16.1) | NS |
| Private insurance | 48.2 (22.5) | NS | 49.8 (21.7) | 44.9 (24.6) | NS |
| Medicare | 7.3 (16.5) | <.001 | 34.0 (16.3) | 34.4 (18.4) | NS |
| Self-pay/uninsured | 5.2 (6.3) | NS | 5.7 (8.7) | 5.7 (10.8) | NS |
| Other | 3.3 (11.5) | NS | 4.9 (18.5) | 9.7 (27.0) | NS |
| Hours worked per week | 47.6 (19.8) | NS | 48.6 (15.7) | 49.2 (16.4) | NS |
| Total patients seen per week | 34.5 (23.4) | <.001 | 76.6 (42.2) | 67.1 (44.0) | NS |
| Patients <18 seen per week | 27.5 (18.0) | <.001 | 3.1 (3.6) | 1.7 (5.2) | <.001 |
| Able to see more patients | 35.0 | NS | 26.7 | 36.1 | NS |
| Miles to nearest pediatric rheumatologist | N/A | 30.2 (34.8) | 15.3 (18.0) | <.001 |
SD indicates standard deviation; NS, not significant; HMO, health maintenance organization.
↵* For dichotomous variables, statistical tests were performed using χ2 when all cell sizes were >5. When ≥1 cells were <5, a 2-sided Fisher exact test was used. For continuous variables, 2-sided t tests were performed without assuming equal variances. For nonnormally distributed variables (Shapiro-Wilks test P < .05), Wilcoxon rank sum tests were used.