Physicians' attitudes toward patient education on nuclear war.

A pilot survey was conducted to determine self-reported knowledge, attitudes, and behavior of physicians with regard to educating patients on the medical consequences of nuclear war. Two groups were sampled: a group of physicians who had expressed interest in patient education on nuclear issues, and a group of randomly selected family practitioners. The majority of respondents from both groups felt that patient education on this subject was important, yet only 37 and 8% of the respective groups had done anything to inform their patients. Physicians require more information and motivation as to the importance and appropriateness in the clinical setting of raising their concerns about the threat of nuclear war.