Jones Kay, Biezen Ruby, Beovich Bronwyn, van Hecke Oliver
Monash University, Office of the Pro Vice-Chancellor, Peninsula Campus, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Monash University, Notting Hill, Victoria, Australia.
Med Sci Law. 2015 Jan;55(1):6-10. doi: 10.1177/0025802413518318. Epub 2014 Jan 29.
The use of medical chaperones during clinical examinations is important whether one practises as a specialist, nurse, medical student or generalist. Chaperone use in general practice remains largely unknown in most countries across the world and, what is known is limited to a handful of countries. Their use in Australian general practice remains unknown.
To explore the attitudes and practices of a cohort of general practitioners in urban Melbourne regarding the use of chaperones in their daily clinical practice.
Self-administered postal questionnaire to pilot group of general practitioners in urban Melbourne, Australia.
Frequency of chaperone use; views on chaperone use itself; preferred choice for the role of chaperone; main reasons for using chaperones.
The majority (95% respondents) had never or occasionally used a chaperone. The use of chaperones correlated with general practitioner gender - male general practitioners were more likely to use a chaperone. General practitioners preferred choice as chaperone was the practice nurse. There was no association found between chaperone use and the respondents' age, practice size or the availability of a practice nurse. The most highly rated influence by general practitioners for using a chaperone was because of anticipated patient embarrassment and/or distress.
This is the first step in understanding attitudes and experiences of general practitioners in general practice in Australia. The results of a larger, national study would provide further insight into this important issue taking into account the realities of general practice in Australia and relationship between general practitioners and patients.
无论是专科医生、护士、医学生还是全科医生，在临床检查过程中使用医疗陪同人员都很重要。在世界上大多数国家，全科医疗中陪同人员的使用情况基本上仍不为人所知，而已知的情况也仅限于少数几个国家。其在澳大利亚全科医疗中的使用情况同样未知。
探讨墨尔本市区一组全科医生对于在日常临床实践中使用陪同人员的态度和做法。
对澳大利亚墨尔本市区的一组全科医生试点群体进行自填式邮寄问卷调查。
陪同人员的使用频率；对使用陪同人员本身的看法；陪同人员角色的首选；使用陪同人员的主要原因。
大多数（95%的受访者）从未或偶尔使用过陪同人员。陪同人员的使用与全科医生的性别相关——男性全科医生更有可能使用陪同人员。全科医生首选的陪同人员是执业护士。未发现陪同人员的使用与受访者的年龄、诊所规模或执业护士的配备情况之间存在关联。全科医生使用陪同人员的最主要影响因素是预计患者会感到尴尬和/或痛苦。
这是了解澳大利亚全科医疗中全科医生态度和经历的第一步。一项更大规模的全国性研究结果将进一步深入了解这个重要问题，同时考虑到澳大利亚全科医疗的实际情况以及全科医生与患者之间的关系。
