HIV Risk Assessment Practices of Primary Care Providers: A National Survey

描述(由申请人提供)：许多公共卫生和专业协会呼吁医生进行包括艾滋病毒/艾滋病在内的患者风险评估。虽然已经进行的为数不多的全国性研究发现，医生很少进行此类风险评估，但自1996年以来，一直没有对这种行为进行充分的衡量。自那时以来，该病的流行病学和治疗发生了许多变化。这项拟议的研究将提供有关美国初级保健医生(即产科-妇科医生、家庭医生、普通内科和儿科)目前执业情况的数据，并确定与不遵守艾滋病毒风险评估建议有关的因素。拟议研究的具体目标是：1)确定定期评估患者艾滋病毒风险状况的初级保健医生的比例及其遵从性水平；2)确定与遵从性不足显著相关的提供者特征。一份调查问卷将邮寄给全国范围内的横断面随机抽样的初级保健医生。这项研究将增加我们对医生为什么不评估患者的艾滋病毒风险状况的理解。这些信息可用于设计干预措施，以增加艾滋病毒检测、及时治疗和预防行为。

DESCRIPTION (provided by the applicant): Numerous public health and professional societies have called for physicians to conduct patient risk assessments that include HIV/AIDS. While the few national studies that have been conducted found that physicians infrequently conducted such risk assessments, no adequate measurement of this behavior has been carried out since 1996. Since that time, many changes in the epidemiology and treatment of the disease have occurred. The proposed study would provide data on the current practices of primary care physicians (i.e. obstetrician-gynecologists, family practice, general internal medicine and pediatrics) in the U.S. and identify factors related to non-compliance with HIV risk assessment recommendations. The specific aims of the proposed study are: 1) Identify the proportion of primary care physicians who are assessing their patients' HIV risk status on a routine basis and their level of compliance, and 2) Identify provider characteristics that are significantly associated with inadequate compliance. A questionnaire will be mailed to a national, cross-sectional, random sample of primary care physicians. This study will increase our understanding of why physicians do not assess their patients' HIV risk status. Such information could be used to design interventions that would increase HIV testing, timely treatment and preventive behaviors.