Table 4

Between-group comparison of cluster according to three numerical variables (time since graduation, age and overall academic performance in undergraduate courses).

Continuous variables

3-cluster solution

4-cluster solution

5-cluster solution

Cluster

Mean (SD)

Cluster

Mean (SD)

Cluster

Mean (SD)

Time since graduation (years)

1

11.07 (5.8)^A

1a

11.96 (5.4)^A

1a

12.04 (5.4)^A

3

9.98 (5.6)^A

1b

10.02 (6.1)^A

1b

10.18 (6.0)^A

2

6.62 (5.8)^B

3

8.70 (5.7)^A

3

9.98 (5.6)^A

2

6.38 (5.7)^B

1c

9.94 (5.9)^A

2

5.95 (5.6)^B

Present age (years)

1

35.06 (5.9)^A

1a

36.05 (5.6)^A

1a

35.96 (5.5)^A

3

34.14 (5.3)^A

3

33.94 (5.5)^AB

1b

34.39 (5.7)^A

2

31.51 (6.4)^B

1b

33.83 (6.2)^AB

3

34.12 (5.6)^AB

2

31.40 (6.3)^B

1c

33.86 (6.4)^AB

2

30.92 (6.3)^B

Overall academic performance

(0-10 scale)

2

7.53 (1.0)^A

2

7.48 (1.0)^A

1b

7.61 (0.9)^A

3

7.42 (0.9)^A

1b

7.47 (0.9)^AB

2

7.47 (1.0)^AB

1

7.22 (0.9)^A

3

7.39 (0.9)^AB

1c

7.46 (0.8)^AB

1a

7.06 (0.9)^B

3

7.33 (0.9)^AB

1a

7.03 (0.9)^B

- Different letters indicate statistically different clusters (One-way Anova followed by Tukey's test); P < 0.05;

- Clusters with lower values are highlighted in bold - Cluster 2 were younger and have shorter time since graduation, and Cluster 1/1a had lower academic performance during degree course.

Nunes et al. Human Resources for Health 2010 8:20   doi:10.1186/1478-4491-8-20