Blood lead testing by pediatricians: practice, attitudes, and demographics.
OBJECTIVE
This study aimed to evaluate adherence and identify ways to improve concordance between blood lead testing guidelines and practice.


METHODS
One hundred fifty-five pediatricians responded to a questionnaire assessing demographic, knowledge, and attitudinal factors relating to lead testing.


RESULTS
Only 27% of the respondents adhered to the guidelines, and less than half knew all of the answers to three factual questions about the recommendations. Adherence was higher among physicians who knew the guidelines, were more recently trained, or had high proportions of Medicaid or minority patients.


CONCLUSIONS
Physician education and financial incentives hold the most promise for increasing adherence to blood lead testing guidelines.
Ferguson
S C
SC
University of California, Berkeley-University of California, San Francisco Joint Medical Program, USA.
Lieu
T A
TA
D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002140:California; D002487:Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S.; D002648:Child; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007854:Lead / Q000097:blood*; D007855:Lead Poisoning / Q000517:prevention & control; D008297:Male; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States
D007854:Lead