Table 1 Characteristics of the participants of the web-based survey (N = 65)

  Male

31 (47.7%)

  Female

34 (52.3%)

Mean age (years)

48.05 years ( ± 9.64)

Professional discipline

  Medicine

48 (76%)

  Allied health profession

3 (5%)

  Biomedical, behavioural or social science and eHealth

7 (12%)

  Pharmacy

5 (8%)

Current profession¹

  General practitioner/ family or primary care physician

41 (63%)

  Medical teacher

17 (26%)

  Employed (or director) at organization of health profession

10 (16%)

  Policy advisor, policy researcher and/or public health expert

7 (11%)

  Scientific researcher

20 (31%)

  Nurse working in primary care, auditor and forensic doctor,

2 (3%)

  (Community) pharmacist, dentist

5 (8%)

  Patient

2 (3%)

For those working in a general practice, the practice size

  Mean number of registered patients (N = 34)

6399 ( ± 17060)

  Mean number of patients attending every three months (N = 29)

2395 ( ± 5440)

For those working in a general practice, the location of the practice

  City/ highly urbanized

25 (56.8%)

  Town (up to 10.000 inhabitants)

11 (25%)

  Village/ rural area

8 (18.2%)

Country

  Germany

11 (17%)

  The Netherlands

10 (15%)

  United Kingdom

6 (9%)

  Bulgaria

4 (6%)

  Austria

4 (6%)

  Latvia

3 (5%)

  Spain

3 (5%)

  Denmark

2 (3%)

  Slovenia

2 (3%)

  Slovakia

2 (3%)

  Albania

1 (2%)

  Belgium

1 (2%)

  France

1 (2%)

  Ireland

1 (2%)

  Italy

1 (2%)

  Luxemburg

1 (2%)

  New Zealand

1 (2%)

  Poland

1 (2%)

  Romania

1 (2%)

  Russia

1 (2%)

  Unknown

8 (12%)