Appendix A: Consumer and Health Care Professional Characteristics

Users of Public Reports of Hospital Quality: Who, What, Why, and How?

Table 1. What are consumer respondent characteristics?a

CharacteristicsAll Web sites
Age (n, %)
   <18 to 24
   25 to 44
   45 to 64
   65 to 74
   75 and older		(n=215)
0 (0%)
36 (17%)
123 (57%)
41 (19%)
15 (7%)
Female (n, %)(n=215)
132 (61%)
Education (n, %)
   High school or GED
   Some college
   4-year college degree
   >4-year college		(n=213)
19 (9%)
59 (28%)
55 (26%)
80 (38%)
Race (n, %)b
   White
   Black
   Asian
   API
   American Indian
   Mixed
   Other		(n=158)
142 (90%)
2 (1%)
2 (1%)
1 (0.6%)
0 (0%)
3 (2%)
8 (5%)
Patient Insurance Type (n, %)c
   Private
   Medicare
   Medicaid
   None
   Other or unknown		(n=209)
139 (67%)
49 (23%)
3 (1%)
10 (5%)
8 (4%)

a. Not all consumers were asked these questions, due to the randomized selection of the questions for consumer respondents. In addition, percentages may not add to 100 due to rounding.
b. Race was only assessed for consumers who were patients, not for friends and family members searching on behalf of patients. API = Asian or Pacific Islander.
c. Patient insurance type according to the friend or family member using the Web site on behalf of the patient.

Table 2. What are health care professional respondent characteristics?

Characteristicsn(%)
Age (n, %)
   <18 to 24
   25 to 44
   45 to 64
   65 and older		(n=247)
1 (0%)
42 (17%)
191 (77%)
13 (5%)
Type of health care professionala
   Physician
   Nurse practitioner
   Nurse
   Executive
   Quality manager
   Administration
   Other		(n=255)
34 (13%)
17 (7%)
41 (16%)
53 (21%)
52 (20%)
20 (8%)
41 (16%)

a. This question allowed the respondent to choose more than one answer, leading to a potentially greater number of responses than respondents for this question. Percentages do not add to 100 due to rounding.

Page last reviewed December 2011
Internet Citation: Appendix A: Consumer and Health Care Professional Characteristics: Users of Public Reports of Hospital Quality: Who, What, Why, and How?. December 2011. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://archive.ahrq.gov/professionals/quality-patient-safety/quality-resources/value/pubreportusers/pubusersapa.html