Table 2.

Comparison of how the 2003 and 2010 respondents’ office-based care was affected during serious infectious disease outbreaks: Proportion of respondents who indicated yes when asked about behaviour in office practice and precautionary measures in clinic.

STATEMENTS	FPs AND GPs
STATEMENTS	2003 RESPONDENTS WHO INDICATED YES, %	2010 RESPONDENTS WHO INDICATED YES, %
Behaviour in office practice
• Insist every patient wear a mask	14.1	59.0^*
• Keep a greater distance between yourself and patients	27.1	48.6^*
• Request more blood tests or chest x-ray scans	9.5	42.6^*
• Postpone or cancel family practice appointments	60.6	63.9
• Postpone or cancel surgical procedures	62.6	49.2^*
• Prescribe more antiviral medications	NA	84.7
• See some patients faster	19.6	71.0^*
• Have long wait times for laboratory and investigation results (eg, computed tomographic scans)	60.0	54.1
• Test patient temperature as a routine procedure	38.5	69.4^*
• Avoid physical examinations	62.0	18.0^*
• Advise patients not to travel to affected areas	50.3	86.3^*
• Postpone or cancel specialist appointments	75.2	49.2^*
• Find it difficult, are you unable, to make specialty referrals	63.6	54.6
• Prescribe more antibiotics	NA	48.6
• Perform more nasopharyngeal or throat swabs	NA	76.5
• Overprescribe antibiotics	62.0	NA
Precautionary measures taken
• Wash your hands between every patient encounter	47.3	68.9^*
• Always wear a mask during consultations	29.5	42.1^*
• Wear goggles for patient encounters	15.8	79.8^*
• Clean work surfaces with antiseptic at least once daily	45.2	59.6^*
• Ask all support staff to wear masks	53.9	56.8
• Insist that temperature be measured for all patients	NA	29.0
• Insist staff members wear gowns during patient encounters	20.7	39.3^*
• Ask all staff to wear disposable gloves	18.9	23.5
• Ask all staff members to have their temperatures measured	16.6	3.3^*

NA—not available.
↵* P < .01.