Background: Because the incidence rates of treated end-stage renal disease are much
lower in Canada than in the United States, we hypothesized that decisions, made by family
physicians and community internists, not to refer certain patients to nephrologists might
explain this difference. Objective: To elicit patterns of practice and attitudes from
nonnephrologist physicians who care for, and possibly refer, patients with renal disease.
Methods: A mailed survey was sent to a random sample of 1924 members of the Ontario …