1. Effect of physician specialty on counseling practices and medical referral patterns among physicians caring for disadvantaged human immunodeficiency virus-infected populations.
- Author
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Duffus WA, Barragan M, Metsch L, Krawczyk CS, Loughlin AM, Gardner LI, Anderson-Mahoney P, Dickinson G, and del Rio C
- Subjects
- Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active, Counseling, Empathy, Humans, HIV Infections therapy, Medicine, Physicians, Practice Patterns, Physicians', Referral and Consultation, Specialization
- Abstract
Data regarding the care and management of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients provided by infectious diseases (ID)-trained physicians, compared with data for care and management provided by other specialists, are limited. Here, we report results of a self-administered survey sent to 317 physicians (response rate, 76%) in 4 metropolitan areas of the United States who were identified as providing care to disadvantaged HIV-infected patients. ID-trained physicians who responded that they strongly agreed or somewhat agreed that they had enough time to care for their HIV-infected patients were more likely than were non-ID-trained physicians to provide therapy-adherence counseling. Physicians with >or=50 patients in care and ID-trained physicians were less likely to always discuss condom use and risk reduction for HIV transmission. Factors significantly associated with referring rather than treating HIV-infected patients with hypertension or diabetes included having <50 patients in care, being an ID-trained physician, and practicing in a private practice. These results suggest the need for targeted physician training on the importance of HIV transmission prevention counseling, increasing the duration of patient visits, and improving strategies for generalist-specialist comanagement of HIV-infected patients.
- Published
- 2003
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