title: Early detection of pathological gambling: betting on GPs' beliefs and attitudes.
abstract: Pathological gambling (PG) is an addictive disorder with harm related to the high psychiatric comorbidity and increased suicidal risk. Prevalence rates in general population range from 0.2% to 2.1%. Problem gamblers are hard to attract to treatment programs for several proper reasons and for obstacles (e.g., accessibility). To address these obstacles, primary care (where the problem gambling (PrG) prevalence seems to be 6.2%) has a crucial role to play (i.e., identifying and referring patients to specialized treatment programs and treating at first line when needed and possible) in the era of online gambling offer expansion. The present work aimed to collect data on resources in the field from GPs themselves, using a 24-item online questionnaire. Swiss French-speaking participants were asked about their screening practice and knowledge. The results state that the vast majority of them are aware of the existence and the potential impact of PrG on their patients. However, PrG screening is not systematic and their knowledge of adequate treatments or referral methods is scarce. GPs being central to health screening in general, targeted advice and training on short screening tools and better knowledge of referral pathways should be promoted and continued to empower the GP's management skills in a public health approach.
authors.affiliation: Addiction Division, Department of Mental Health and Psychiatry, University Hospitals of Geneva, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Sophia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Achab
authors.affiliation: Addiction Division, Department of Mental Health and Psychiatry, University Hospitals of Geneva, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chatton
authors.affiliation: Addiction Division, Department of Mental Health and Psychiatry, University Hospitals of Geneva, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Riaz
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.affiliation: Addiction Division, Department of Mental Health and Psychiatry, University Hospitals of Geneva, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Gabriel
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Thorens
authors.affiliation: Addiction Division, Department of Mental Health and Psychiatry, University Hospitals of Geneva, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Louise
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Penzenstadler
authors.affiliation: Addiction Division, Department of Mental Health and Psychiatry, University Hospitals of Geneva, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Daniele
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zullino
authors.affiliation: Addiction Division, Department of Mental Health and Psychiatry, University Hospitals of Geneva, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Yasser
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Khazaal
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D042241:Early Diagnosis; D005260:Female; D005715:Gambling / Q000175:diagnosis*; D058005:General Practitioners / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011320:Primary Health Care; D057566:Self Report