Abstract
Background International guidelines recommend that physicians should be registered with a general practitioner (GP) and should avoid self-treatment. Adherence to these recommendations is mixed. Aims To describe illness behaviour and chronic medical conditions of GPs in Germany. Methods Cross-sectional, observational questionnaire study. We contacted 1000 GPs by mail in April 2014. We asked about registration with a GP, chronic conditions and self-treatment. We undertook descriptive statistical analysis and analysed associations using t-tests and chi-square test. Results Two hundred and eighty-five responses (29%) were eligible for analysis. Nineteen per cent of GPs were registered as patients of a GP, 58% reported at least one chronic condition, 68% disclosed self-diagnosis and 60% self-treatment. Self-therapy for chronic conditions was inversely correlated with subjective severity of the disease (r = -0.159;P < 0.05). Conclusions The high rates of self-treatment and the low rate of registration with a GP of German GPs are in contrast to international guideline recommendations. Further research is needed to analyse specific reasons.
Item Type: | Journal article |
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Faculties: | Medicine |
Subjects: | 600 Technology > 610 Medicine and health |
ISSN: | 0962-7480 |
Language: | English |
Item ID: | 55386 |
Date Deposited: | 14. Jun 2018, 09:59 |
Last Modified: | 04. Nov 2020, 13:35 |