title: General practitioners and clinical guidelines.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the attitudes of general practitioners in Harare, Zimbabwe, towards the use of clinical practice guidelines (CPG's).
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross sectional survey.
  
  
  METHODS
  General practitioners in private practice within the urban Harare (Zimbabwe) environs.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two hundred and thirty two general practitioners in Harare, Zimbabwe.
  
  
  METHODS
  The response to a questionnaire enlisting attitudes to CPGs.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Questionnaires were sent to 232 general practitioners. Of these, 137 (59.1%) returned a completed questionnaire. Among the respondents, 95.6% felt that general practitioners should be involved in the development of guidelines, 72.6% had read at least one guideline, 65.9% were prepared to use guidelines in their practice, 61.6% thought that guidelines would improve their treatment ability, and 59.7% thought that guidelines would improve their knowledge of disease. 76.5% felt that the government should not legislate, 66.2% felt that guidelines reduce practitioners' flexibility and 57.9% felt that guidelines would not improve their diagnostic ability.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The respondents were, in general, favourably disposed towards CPGs. Most had already read some guidelines, and about two thirds were prepared to use them. Almost all respondents felt that general practitioners should be involved in the development of guidelines for use in general practice. These general practitioners felt that guidelines were likely to help them treat patients than to make a diagnosis. Despite these favourable attitudes, many practitioners felt that guidelines would limit their personal flexibility in caring for patients. Organisations developing or implementing CPGs in general practice should address these concerns.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Health Science Building, University of Zimbabwe, P.O. Box A178, Avondale, Harare, Zimbabwe.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bhagat
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nyazema
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003906:Developing Countries; D005194:Family Practice / Q000592:standards*; D005260:Female; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010821:Physicians, Family; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000592:standards*; D011336:Probability; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014504:Urban Health; D015030:Zimbabwe