[Implementation of preventive activities by family and community medicine residents in primary care clinics].

OBJECTIVE

To determine the level of preventive activities carried out by Family and Community Medicine medical residents during their stay in the Health Centre, as well as to estimate the time involved in carrying them out.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional, descriptive, observational study.

SETTING

Teaching Health Centres in the Central- Cordoba and Guadalquivir Primary Care Districts.

PARTICIPANTS

Forty medical residents and 384 clinical interviews with patients who were seen at the clinic.

MAIN MEASUREMENTS

The consultations were video recorded and looked at by three medical residents who recorded the preventive activities carried out according to the 2005 PAPPS (Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Activities) recommendations, as well as the time employed in performing these activities.

RESULTS

No preventive activities were performed in 72.1% (95% CI: 67.6 to 76.5%) of the consultations. The most frequent activities were secondary prevention (70.1%), mainly the taking of blood pressure (8.1%). The mean consultation time when there were no preventive activities carried out was 5.6 min (SD=3.1), whilst in those that did perform them it was 7.04 min (SD=3.05) (P<0.0001).

CONCLUSIONS

The performing of preventive activities by medical residents in Primary Care clinics is very limited. A consultation that includes preventive activities requires a significantly longer time than in those that do not include them.