Table 2 Descriptive summary of the responses on the questions on the factors that would influence the physicians' data sharing practices.
| Â | Factors Influencing Sharing | Mean | Std. Dev. |
|---|---|---|---|
B1 | The data collector was a provincial ministry of health or agency rather than a municipal public health unit | 4.4 | 1.3 |
B2 | The data collector is Health Canada/Public Health Agency of Canada rather than a municipal public health unit | 4.6 | 1.4 |
B3 | The data will be linked with other administrative and clinical databases by the public health unit | 4.2 | 1.4 |
B4 | The disclosure of the data to the public health unit has been approved by a research ethics board | 5.8 | 1.3 |
B5 | The data will be appropriately de-identified before it is sent to the public health unit | 5.8 | 1.6 |
B6 | A commitment is made by the data collector not to share the data with any other third party | 6 | 1.4 |
B7 | The disclosure of the data to the public health unit is mandated by law | 6.4 | 1.2 |
B8 | The disclosure of the data is for a limited duration and will cease afterwards | 5.7 | 1.3 |
B9 | The public health unit informs the public (e.g., through their web site or newspaper advertisements) that this type of information will be collected from their family physician | 5.1 | 1.5 |
B10 | The disclosure of the information has been cleared/approved by the provincial college of physicians and surgeons | 5.8 | 1.4 |
B11 | The disclosure of the information is endorsed/supported by the CFPC and/or the provincial college of family physicians | 5.8 | 1.4 |
B12 | The public health unit will provide regular custom feedback reports to your practice about disease activity in your area and patient risk | 5.7 | 1.2 |
B13 | The data will be used for research purposes by the public health unit collecting the data (rather than just for public health surveillance) | 5 | 1.4 |
B14 | The disease being monitored is different (i.e., it is not influenza but say an STD or a chronic disease) | 4.3 | 1.3 |