Identified factors (bold typeface) and responses (n=1177) to items of the questionnaire concerning dentists’ opinions about guidelines and the factor loading for each individual item
| Question: “Clinical practice guidelines …” | Factor loading | Agree (%) | Neither agree nor disagree (%) | Don’t know (%) | Disagree (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Contribution of guidelines to effective care (α=0.66) | |||||
| • Are useful as checklist | 0.58 | 89.6 | 6.6 | 1.7 | 2.2 |
| • Are supportive in daily dental decision making | 0.66 | 66.4 | 20.8 | 3.0 | 9.8 |
| • Are essential for dental and continuing education | 0.63 | 53.1 | 27.9 | 6.9 | 12.1 |
| • Show others how dentists work | 0.62 | 42.8 | 30.7 | 8.9 | 17.6 |
| • Will neutralise large treatment variation between dentists | 0.50 | 34.7 | 30.5 | 9.5 | 25.3 |
| • Are useful for cost effective and efficient work | 0.56 | 25.9 | 31.0 | 9.9 | 33.2 |
| • Should be obligatory | 0.41 | 8.9 | 23.3 | 2.4 | 65.4 |
| Contribution of guidelines to professional autonomy (α=0.66) | |||||
| • Will straitjacket the dentist | 0.72 | 55.8 | 26.1 | 2.4 | 15.7 |
| • Will affect professional autonomy | 0.78 | 32.4 | 30.1 | 5.3 | 32.2 |
| • Are rarely feasible and suitable in daily dental practice | 0.63 | 19.3 | 39.7 | 9.1 | 31.9 |
| • Are detrimental to good dental care | 0.60 | 6.2 | 24.4 | 5.7 | 63.7 |