Participants who thought that no violation (0), a non-important violation (1), a violation for which the physician should receive a blame (2), or a serious violation (3) had taken place in the case scenarios 1–6.
| Hospital physicians (n = 130) | Community physicians (n = 378) | P-valueb | Medical studentsa (n = 79) | Law students (n = 232) | P-valuec | P-valued | Gold standarde | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Case 1a/b (politician), n (%) | ||||||||
| 0 (no violation) | 8 (6.2)/23 (18.4) | 25 (6.8)/69 (18.9) | 1b: 1 (1.3) | 1b: 9 (3.9) | ||||
| 1 (not important violation) | 33 (25.8)/57 (45.6) | 107 (29.1)/133 (36.4) | 20 (25.3) | 90 (39.0) | ||||
| 2 (important violation) | 41 (32.0) /33 (26.4) | 104 (28.3)/99 (27.1) | 46 (58.2) | 94 (40.7) | ||||
| 3 (serious violation) | 46 (35.9)/12 (9.6) | 132 (35.9)/64 (17.5) | 12 (15.1) | 38 (16.5) | ||||
| Mean (SD) | 2.0 (0.9)/1.3 (0.9) | 1.9 (1.0)/1.4 (1.0) | 0.700/0.100 | 1.9 (0.7) | 1.7 (0.8) | <0.010 | <0.010 | 3 |
| Case 2 (hepatitis), n (%) | ||||||||
| 0 (no violation) | 74 (58.7) | 202 (56.1) | 36 (45.6) | 156 (67.5) | ||||
| 1 (not important violation) | 29 (23.0) | 77 (21.4) | 23 (29.1) | 38 (16.5) | ||||
| 2 (important violation) | 14 (11.1) | 58 (16.1) | 16 (20.3) | 26 (11.3) | ||||
| 3 (serious violation) | 9 (7.1) | 23 (6.4) | 4 (5.1) | 11 (4.8) | ||||
| Mean (SD) | 0.7 (0.9) | 0.7 (1.0) | 0.500 | 0.8 (0.9) | 0.5 (0.9) | 0.100 | <0.010 | 2 |
| Case 3 (theft), n (%) | ||||||||
| 0 (no violation) | 41 (32.3) | 50 (13.8) | 24 (30.4) | 112 (48.5) | ||||
| 1 (not important violation) | 22 (17.3) | 62 (17.19 | 18 (22.8) | 67 (29.0) | ||||
| 2 (important violation) | 37 (29.1) | 140 (38.7) | 21 (26.6) | 36 (15.6) | ||||
| 3 (serious violation) | 27 (21.3) | 110 (30.4) | 16 (20.3) | 16 (6.9) | ||||
| Mean (SD) | 1.4 (1.1) | 1.9 (1.0) | <0.001 | 1.4 (1.1) | 0.8 (0.9) | <0.010 | <0.001 | 3 |
| Case 4 (cadaver), n (%) | ||||||||
| 0 (no violation) | 100 (79.4) | 265 (74.9) | 59 (74.7) | 162 (69.8) | ||||
| 1 (not important violation) | 11 (8.7) | 39 (11.0) | 14 (17.7) | 50 (21.6) | ||||
| 2 (important violation) | 9 (7.1) | 30 (8.5) | 5 (6.3) | 14 (6.0) | ||||
| 3 (serious violation) | 6 (4.8) | 20 (5.6) | 1 (1.3) | 6 (2.6) | ||||
| Mean (SD) | 0.4 (0.8) | 0.4 (0.9) | 0.300 | 0.3 (0.7) | 0.4 (0.7) | 0.900 | 0.300 | 2 |
| Case 5 (squat), n (%) | ||||||||
| 0 (no violation) | 20 (15.6) | 63 (17.7) | 17 (21.5) | 41 (18.0) | ||||
| 1 (not important violation) | 38 (29.7) | 81 (22.8) | 15 (19.0) | 58 (25.4) | ||||
| 2 (important violation) | 48 (37.5) | 154 (43.3) | 37 (46.8) | 103 (45.2) | ||||
| 3 (serious violation) | 22 (17.2) | 58 (16.3) | 10 (12.7) | 26 (11.4) | ||||
| Mean (SD) | 1.6 (1.0) | 1.6 (1.0) | 0.700 | 1.5 (1.0) | 1.5 (0.9) | 0.600 | 0.300 | 3 |
| Case 6 (computer), n (%) | ||||||||
| 0 (no violation) | 2 (1.8) | 17 (5.3) | 5 (6.6) | 12 (5.3) | ||||
| 1 (not important violation) | 2 (1.8) | 13 (4.0) | 4 (5.3) | 8 (3.5) | ||||
| 2 (important violation) | 21 (18.9) | 59 (18.4) | 15 (19.7) | 26 (11.4) | ||||
| 3 (serious violation) | 86 (77.5) | 232 (72.3) | 52 (68.4) | 182 (79.8) | ||||
| Mean (SD) | 2.7 (0.6) | 2.6 (0.8) | 0.200 | 2.5 (0.9) | 2.7 (0.8) | 0.300 | 0.100 | 3 |
↵a 64 medical students and 15 dental students.43
↵b,c,d Comparisons (Mann–Whitney test) between community and hospital physicians (b), physicians and medical students (c), and physicians and law students (d).
↵e Swiss gold standard (three professors of criminal law in Geneva). SD = standard deviation.