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Table 4 Differences in the treatment conditions, medications, and treatment strategies among doctors of different professional ranks

From: Current status of and barriers to the treatment of advanced-stage liver cancer in China: a questionnaire-based study from the perspective of doctors

Questions

Answers

Chief physicians (n = 502)

Deputy chief physicians (n = 356)

Attending physicians and residents (n = 163)

P-value

Treatment conditions

     

Is the price of medication acceptable?

Yes

353 (70.3%)

258 (72.5%)

123 (75.5%)

0.427

 

No

149 (29.7%)

98 (27.5%)

40 (24.5%)

 

Are drugs sufficient?

Yes

133 (26.5%)

79 (22.2%)

38 (23.3)

0.328

 

No

369 (73.5%)

277 (77.8%)

125 (76.7%)

 

What is your major drug source?

Imported

156 (31.1%)

132 (37.1%)

50 (30.7%)

0.048*

 

Domestic

274 (54.6%)

177 (49.7%)

78 (47.9%)

 
 

Available

72 (14.3%)

47 (13.2%)

35 (21.5%)

 

What is the percentage of the advanced stage cancer in your practice?

 < 40%

153 (30.5%)

91 (25.6%)

56 (34.4%)

0.226

 

40–60%

184 (36.7%)

140 (39.3%)

62 (38.0%)

 
 

 > 60%

165 (32.9%)

125 (35.1%)

45 (27.6%)

 

What is the percentage of the first diagnosis?

 < 20%

265 (52.6%)

182 (51.1%)

94 (57.7%)

0.157

 

20–40%

134 (26.7%)

116 (32.6%)

41 (25.2%)

 
 

 > 40%

104 (20.7%)

58 (16.3%)

28 (17.2%)

 

Is the method of diagnosis enough?

Yes

239(47.6%)

180(50.6%)

94(57.7%)

0.082

 

No

263(52.4%)

176(49.4%)

69(42.3%)

 

Is your hospital able to conduct further tests to determine the nature of the liver masses?

Yes

488(97.2%)

344(96.6%)

149(91.4%)

0.003*

 

No

14(2.8%)

12(3.4%)

14(8.6%)

 

Medication methods

     

Do you advocate traditional Chinese medicine?

Yes

314 (62.5%)

217 (61.0%)

103 (63.2%)

0.851

 

No

188 (37.5%)

139 (39.0%)

60 (36.8%)

 

What is your preferred immunotherapy drug?

PD-1

383 (76.3%)

279 (78.4%)

111 (68.1%)

0.011*

 

PD-L1

100 (19.9%)

61 (17.1%)

49 (30.1%)

 
 

CTLA-4

19 (3.8%)

16 (4.5%)

3 (1.8%)

 

How do you deal with adverse effects of targeted therapy?

Keeping the dosage and frequency

177 (35.3%)

124 (34.8%)

55 (33.7%)

0.688

 

Reducing the dosage

268 (53.4%)

181 (50.8%)

84 (51.5%)

 
 

Intermittent medication

57 (11.4%)

51 (14.3%)

24 (14.7%)

 

What is your preferred targeted drug?

Sorafenib

275 (54.8%)

205 (57.6%)

92 (56.4%)

0.302

 

Lenvatinib

182 (36.3%)

113 (31.7%)

49 (30.1%)

 
 

Second-line drugs

45 (9.0%)

38 (10.7%)

22 (13.5%)

 

Treatment strategies

     

What are your major considerations for prescribing?

Cost or insurance

178 (35.5%)

126 (35.4%)

56 (34.4%)

0.794

 

Effectiveness

249 (49.6%)

166 (46.6%)

79 (48.5%)

 
 

Availability

75 (14.9%)

64 (18.0%)

28 (17.2%)

 

What is your preferred treatment regimen?

Targeted therapy

63(12.5%)

31(8.7%)

20(12.3%)

0.264

 

Immunotherapy

5(1.0%)

3(0.8%)

4(2.5%)

 
 

Target therapy & Immunotherapy

421(83.9%)

316(88.8%)

134(82.2%)

 
 

Chemotherapy

13(2.6%)

6(1.7%)

5(3.1%)

 

Do you support the disclosure of the patients’ true conditions?

Yes

336(66.9%)

215(60.4%)

81(49.7%)

 <0.001*

 

No

166(33.1%)

141(39.6%)

82(50.3%)

 

Who will make the final decisions on treatment?

Doctors

89(17.7%)

39(11.0%)

13(8.0%)

0.004*

 

Patients

121(24.1%)

86(24.2)

35(21.5%)

 
 

Patients’ family

292(58.2%)

231(64.9%)

115(70.6%)

 

Is the pathological diagnosis important?

Yes

230(45.8%)

191(53.7%)

98(60.1%)

0.003*

 

No

272(54.2%)

165(46.3%)

65(39.9%)

 

What is your recommended hospital when the diagnosis is vague?

Local hospitals

61(12.2%)

64(18.0%)

28(17.2%)

 <0.001*

 

Provincial capital hospitals

197(39.2%)

170(47.8%)

95(58.3%)

 
 

National top hospitals

244(48.6%)

122(34.3%)

40(24.5%)

 
  1. Bold and * indicate statistical significance (P < 0.05)