[Knowledge of care activity: another professional factor associated with utilization?].
OBJECTIVE
To analyse the doctors' level of understanding of the use of resources in primary care and the relationship of their understanding to the proper use of resources.


METHODS
Primary care in the Autonomous Community of Murcia.


METHODS
Descriptive, crossover study.


RESULTS
There was little concordance between the real data contributed by the unit of information and registration of primary care management and data calculated by the doctors themselves. The best-known parameters are frequency of attendance (kappa index = 0.11) and patient pressure (kappa = 0.39). The profile of the doctors did not in general relate to this degree of understanding; it was only observed in a tendency in older doctors (p < 0.001) to overvalue frequency of attendance. The doctors with less understanding used radiology resources more with 164 requests per 1000 inhabitants per year, made more specialist referrals (826 per thousand inhabitants per year) and prescribed more medicines (21 prescriptions per inhabitant per year). Likewise, doctors who used resources most tended to underestimate their use of resources (p < 0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
The doctor's understanding of his/her health-care activity and of the resources it involves is scant and independent of the doctor's professional characteristics. This is a factor, which we could call the professional factor, clearly related to resource use.
de Maya
M C
MC
Centro de Salud Santa M. de Gracia, Unidad Docente de Medicina Familiar y Comunitaria de Murcia.
Gómez Calcerrada
D
D
Gonzálvez
M J
MJ
Mendoza
C
C
Martínez Ros
M J
MJ
D015510:Clinical Medicine; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D013030:Spain; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
El conocimiento de la actividad asistencial: otro factor profesional relacionado con la utilización?