title: [Primary Prevention in General Medical Practice: A Survey].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  According to the German social insurance code §20 Sec. 1, statutory health insurance companies can reimburse up to 80% of costs incurred by primary prevention programs in physical activity, nutrition, stress management and drug consumption. Whether and how many general practitioners (GPs) provide their patients with information on such programs as part of their own practice is unknown. In this study, we investigate to which primary prevention programs primary care physicians refer their patients and whether they take into account reimbursability of programs.
  
  
  METHODS
  Between November 2010 and February 2011, all GPs with a practice in Berlin (n=1 168) received a questionnaire that assessed if patients were referred to prevention programs and the type of programs they were referred to, if they ensured they are reimbursable and if they themselves offered prevention programs. Descriptive statistics and multivariate logistic regression was used for analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 474 respondents (response rate: 41%), 67% were female. Of the respondents, 22% offered reimbursable prevention programs and 42% at out-of-pocket expense. Patients were referred to reimbursable programs by 63%. GPs younger than 50 were twice as likely to offer reimbursable programs in their practice compared to those older than 50 (OR=1.7; 95% KI 1.1-2,8; p-value 0.025).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A successful implementation of the new German prevention law needs awareness among GPs about reimbursable prevention programs, which may be lacking in some groups.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Public Health, Charité-Universitatsmedizin Berlin, Berlin.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Holmberg
authors.affiliation: Institut für Public Health, Charité-Universitatsmedizin Berlin, Berlin.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Muckelbauer
authors.affiliation: Institut für Public Health, Charité-Universitatsmedizin Berlin, Berlin.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sarganas
authors.affiliation: Institut für Allgemeinmedizin, Charité-Universitatsmedizin Berlin, Berlin.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Braun
authors.affiliation: Institut für Allgemeinmedizin, Charité-Universitatsmedizin Berlin, Berlin.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Heintze
authors.affiliation: Institut für Allgemeinmedizin, Charité-Universitatsmedizin Berlin, Berlin.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Dini
authors.affiliation: Institut für Public Health, Charité-Universitatsmedizin Berlin, Berlin.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Müller-Nordhorn
mesh_terms: D001604:Berlin; D005260:Female; D058005:General Practitioners; D006801:Humans; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D011322:Primary Prevention; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires