[Primary care research: attitude of family physicians trained at the Córdoba Teaching Unit].

OBJECTIVE

To study the opinions and attitudes of a group of Family Doctors concerning various aspects of Primary Health Care (PHC) research.

DESIGN

A descriptive observational study.

SETTING

Health Centres and Primary Care consulting rooms.

PARTICIPANTS

Family doctors trained in the Family and Community Medicine Teaching Unit in Córdoba between 1982 and 1992 (N = 70). There was a 59.7% reply rate.

MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS

Among the obstacles noted for the development of research in PHC, lack of time at work was the main one (82.5%); and as a handicap, lack of understanding how to work out designs was in first place (85.0%); and as a handicap, lack of understanding how to work out designs was in first place (85.0%). 60.0% considered that PHC research is not sufficiently valued in our country and 77.5% thought that it is not taken into account enough on applying for jobs. 78.0% (C.I.95%: 62.0 - 88.9%) took part in a congress giving papers or reports during the last year. 63.4% (C.I.95%: 46.9 - 77.4%) were working on a research project.

CONCLUSIONS

In spite of the perceived methodological difficulties and the lack of incentives, the number of family doctors who devote part of their time to research projects is notable and their participation in scientific events is considerable.