[Information the family physician gives his patients to take home. Utilization, contents and origin of printed information].
Providing the patient with information is one of the most important tasks of the family doctor, both for legal and medical reasons. Apart from verbal information, a wealth of printed material is also available. In a survey of 62 randomly selected general practices, the volume and nature of such information material was investigated, and its importance in practice established by means of an interview. 88.7% of the doctors interviewed stated that they handed out printed matter every day, and 96.8% considered the availability of such information to be an important aid in their daily work. Most of the printed information dealt with metabolic and cardiovascular disorders, and 93.5% of the material was supplied by the pharmaceutical industry. This means that other institutions which have a task to inform patients are virtually not represented in the doctor's office. Printed material providing health-promoting information, for example, on such topics as smoking, AIDS, exercise, healthy eating and suchlike, were lacking. The data point to an urgent need for additional information material in the doctor's office.
Psychiatrische Klinik und Poliklinik, Freien Universität Berlin. linden@redat.fu-berlin.de
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D005194:Family Practice / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005858:Germany; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D010174:Pamphlets; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*