Table 4.

Factors Associated with Respondents Feeling That Their Authority Was Being Challenged during the Discussion about DTCA

n% YesUnivariate pMultivariate Odds Ratio (95% CI)
Total39512
Practice characteristics
 % Patients with Medicaid0.023
  ≤25%29311
  >25%7721
Physicians’ cognitive and emotional responses in the last visit where a patient talked about DTCA.
 How relevant to the patient was the information in the ad?0.011
  Very/somewhat308101.0
  Not very/not at all81212.3 (1.1–4.8)
 How accurate was the information in the ad?0.004
  Very/somewhat2619
  Not very/not at all12920
 Why did the patient talk to you about the ad?0.019
  Wanted a test, medication change or referral22016
  Wanted your opinion only1718
 Did you do what the patient wanted?0.004
  Yes, completely7541.0
  Yes, partially241123.0 (0.9–9.6)
  No74228.5 (2.5–29.2)
 Did you have enough time to discuss the information?<0.001
  Yes134221.0
  No25783.0 (1.6–5.8)
 Did you feel the patient was taking responsibility?0.118
  Yes279142.2 (1.0–5.1)
  No11281.0
 Did you feel the patient’s request was not appropriate for their health?<0.001
  Yes, not appropriate13930
  No, appropriate2523
 Did you feel you did not know the patient well enough to have good communication?<0.001
  Yes28361.0
  No363115.0 (1.9–12.6)
  • The odds ratio of the doctor feeling challenged for not doing what the patient wanted compared with doing what the patient wanted partially was 2.8 (95% confidence interval, 1.3 to 6.1).