Table 1.

Patient Characteristics by Whether Requests Were Made During Primary Care Visits (N = 1,319 Visits Among 1141 Patients)

CharacteristicAny RequestNo RequestP Value
N, %867 (65.7%)452 (34.3%)
Age, y, mean (SD)46.4 (15.8)44.2 (16.7).017
Sex, n%
    Male267 (30.8%)140 (33.6%).38
    Female600 (69.2%)302 (66.8%)
Race/ethnicity, n%
    White399 (46.0%)226 (50.0%).28
    Hispanic208 (24.0%)91 (20.1%)
    Black104 (12.0%)50 (11.1%)
    Asian53 (6.1%)35 (7.7%)
    Other/multiple races75 (8.7%)31 (6.9%)
    Decline to state28 (3.2%)19 (4.2%)
Education, n%
    Less than high school35 (4.0%)11 (2.4%).58
    High school/GED135 (15.6%)66 (14.6%)
    Some college315 (36.3%)173 (38.3%)
    College graduate184 (21.2%)101 (22.3%)
    Any graduate studies198 (22.8%)101 (22.3%)
Self-rated health, n%
    Poor44 (5.1%)13 (2.9%).018
    Fair160 (18.5%)72 (15.9%)
    Good339 (39.1%)158 (35.0%)
    Very good239 (27.6%)149 (33.0%)
    Excellent85 (9.8%)60 (13.3%)
Mental Health Index, mean (SD)72.5 (19.0)73.9 (18.0).19
Medical skepticism, mean (SD)3.03 (0.67)3.02 (0.61).78
Big Five Personality Inventory scores, mean (SD)
Extraversion3.46 (0.78)3.39 (0.79).16
Agreeableness4.14 (0.57)4.17 (0.57).34
Conscientiousness3.91 (0.66)3.94 (0.59).54
Neuroticism2.74 (0.78)2.71 (0.81).53
Openness3.80 (0.58)3.78 (0.59).64
Life satisfaction, mean (SD)25.1 (6.5)25.6 (6.4).17
Symptom bother/worry, mean (SD)8.40 (2.84)7.57 (2.70)<.001
Body mass index, mean (SD)30.3 (7.5)29.2 (7.2).012
Current smoker
    No768 (88.6%)404 (89.4%).66
    Yes99 (11.4%)48 (10.6%)
Marital status
    Divorced125 (14.4%)46 (10.2%).18
    Married or domestic partnership361 (41.6%)210 (46.5%)
    Member of unmarried couple86 (9.9%)47 (10.4%)
    Never married207 (23.9%)112 (24.8%)
    Separated30 (3.5%)10 (2.2%)
    Widowed58 (6.7%)27 (6.0%)
Patient satisfaction percentile rank, median (IQR)50.1 (24.1, 78.4)50.1 (25.6, 78.4).79
Any prior encounter with visit physician
    None472 (54.4%)274 (60.6%).032
    One or more395 (45.6%)178 (39.4%)
  • GED, general equivalency diploma; IQR, interquartile range; SD, standard deviations.