title: Piling high: a general practice registrar's unsolicited mail.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the amount, types, and proportion that is read of unsolicited mail received by a general practice registrar. DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANT: A mixed-methods, prospective, descriptive study of unsolicited mail sent directly to a general practice registrar in a private general practice located in rural north Queensland, collected between 1 March and 30 September 2010.
  
  
  METHODS
  The amount, by number and weight, of unsolicited mail items, and the proportion of each document read, in total and by category.
  
  
  RESULTS
  196 items of unsolicited mail, weighing 19.85 kg, were received over a period of 7 months. The category with the largest number of mail items was pharmaceutical company correspondence (70; 36%), closely followed by medical tabloids and free journals (67; 34%). Medical tabloids and free journals made up the largest proportion of unsolicited mail by weight (15.49 kg; 78%). Of all 196 items, only 10 (5%) had more than half of their content read.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although small in size, this study suggests that a reduction in unsolicited mail to general practitioners in Australia would have benefits for GPs in terms of time management, environmental benefits, and reduction in frustration levels.
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine and Dentistry, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia. amanda.torkington@jcu.edu.au
authors.forename: Amanda M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Torkington
authors.forename: Robyn G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Preston
authors.forename: David T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Brandts-Giesen
mesh_terms: D001315:Australia; D058006:General Practice; D006801:Humans; D011177:Postal Service / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*