French general practitioners' attitudes toward therapeutic advances in HIV care: results of a national survey

We aimed to assess attitudes to French primary care providers towards recent advances in HIV care. Telephone surveys in a random sample of French general practitioners (GPs) were carried out in April 1996 (response rate=70.3%; n=1186). Only 40.5% of the sample had participated in the regular medical follow-up of HIV-infected patients during the previous year. Among these 480 respondents, only a few (13.3%) declared that they would take care of an asymptomatic patient with a high (>500 cells/mm3) CD4 count as the unique provider. A majority (66.2%) had referred at least one HIV-infected patient to a hospital specialist in the previous year. A total of 31.4% declared that they considered it appropriate for an antiretroviral treatment to be initiated to an asymptomatic patient with 300 CD4 cells/mm3, and only 23.5% were already in favour of combination therapies rather than zidovudine monotherapy as treatment of choice. GPs with the most experience with HIV care tended to be the most reluctant to modify their attitude in favour of earlier initiation of antiretroviral therapies and of the switch from monotherapy to combination therapies. The survey suggests there is a gap between attitudes of GPs and those of AIDS specialists toward preliminary reports of therapeutic advances in HIV care. Whether or not such a gap may create problems for an appropriate diffusion of new antiretroviral therapies should be carefully monitored, in the context of current reforms emphasizing the key role of primary providers in most health-care systems.     

Physicians' attitudes toward substance abuse and drug testing

Responding to a survey, 303 physicians provided opinions about permissibility of substance use among eight occupational groups, appropriateness of drug-screening programs by employers, and the role of physicians in managing substance abuse problems. The majority felt that neither drugs nor alcohol should be used at lunch by any individuals, but that alcohol and to some degree marijuana use was permissible after work or on weekends. Physicians could not agree about reliability or use of drug-testing programs. However, most believed that employee drug screening was more appropriate after evidence of poor job performance rather than screening all employees or applicants.     

Research network involvement and addiction treatment center staff: counselor attitudes toward buprenorphine

The National Institute on Drug Abuse's Clinical Trials Network (CTN) aims to improve addiction treatment in the United States in part through technology transfer. Given the importance of clinicians in the technology transfer process, this research compares 561 CTN-affiliated and 1,745 non-CTN counselors' ratings of buprenorphine acceptability. CTN-affiliated counselors reported significantly greater acceptability than non-CTN counselors. This difference was not explained by controlling for counselor characteristics, but was completely attenuated by measures of buprenorphine-specific training and buprenorphine implementation. These data suggest that the CTN's impact on counselor attitudes may be attributed to the greater exposure to buprenorphine received by CTN-affiliated counselors.     

Persuader sex differences and peer pressure effects on attitudes toward drug abuse.

This experiment was performed to assess the effects of the experimental confederates' sex and contrived group peer pressure on the drug attitudes of male college students. Subjects were exposed to all-male or all-female groups of experimental confederates (ersuaders) who expressed either extremely pro-drug or anti-drug sentiments in a guided group discussion. A drug attitude survey encompassing four drug categories was administered immediately following the discussion. Significant differences were found between subjects in the anti-drug and pro-drug groups. The sex effect data indicated that the male subjects reported more liberal drug attitudes following exposure to female persuaders in both the anti-and pro-drug treatment conditions for the more socially acceptable drugs such as marijuana, hashish, and stimulants. Implications of these findings for possible prevention and intervention strategies and for further research are discussed.     

Misconceptions about transmission of AIDS and attitudes toward prevention in the French general public

A survey of the social perception of AIDS and its prevention was carried out in December 1987 in a representative sample of the adult population of the Paris region (France). A significant part of the general public still holds misconceptions about transmission by casual contact and blood donation. Misbeliefs about modes of transmission clearly encourage individuals' willingness to stigmatize AIDS patients and to support the most coercive measures of prevention (such as quarantine). Advertizing efforts to promote use of condoms, sexual education in schools, and systematic HIV screening for pregnant women are the only measures which create a broad consensus independently of sociocultural differences. Socioeconomic status and even religious or political beliefs strongly influence public opinions toward other preventive measures.     

French field experience with buprenorphine

In most European countries, methadone treatment is provided to only 20-30% of opiate abusers who need treatment due to regulations and concerns about safety. To address this need in France, all registered medical doctors since 1995 have been allowed to prescribe buprenorphine (BUP) without any special education or licensing. This led to treating approximately 65,000 patients per year with BUP, about ten times more than with more restrictive methadone policies. French physician compensation mechanisms, pharmacy services, and medical insurance funding all minimized barriers to BUP treatment. About 20% of all physicians in France are using BUP to treat about half of the estimated 150,000 problem heroin users. Daily supervised dosing by a pharmacist for the first six months resulted in significantly better treatment retention (80% vs 46%) and lower heroin use. Intravenous diversion of BUP may occur in up to 20% of BUP patients and has led to various infections and relatively rare overdoses in combination with sedatives. Opiate overdose deaths have declined substantially (by 79%) since BUP was introduced in 1995. Newborn opiate withdrawal in mothers treated with buprenorphine compared to methadone was reported to be less frequent, less severe, and of shorter duration. Although some of the public health benefits seen during the time of buprenorphine expansion in France might be contingent upon characteristics of the French health and social services system, the French model raises questions about the value of tight regulations on prescribing BUP imposed by many countries throughout the world.     

Illicit drug use and injection practices among drug users on methadone and buprenorphine maintenance treatment in France

Aims To evaluate the associations between methadone and high‐dose buprenorphine maintenance treatment and illicit drug use and injection among drug users in France. Design A cross‐sectional study. Data were gathered using a questionnaire administered containing closed‐ended questions. Setting Drug dependence clinics (DDC) and general practitioners’ (GPs) offices in three French cities. Participants Drug users undergoing maintenance treatment with methadone (n = 197) and buprenorphine (n = 142). Measurements Interviews covered the use of illicit drugs (heroin, cocaine or crack) and injection practices (illicit drugs and/or substitution drugs) during the last month, current treatment modalities, socio‐demographic and health characteristics. Bivariate analysis and multivariate logistic regressions were conducted. Findings Overall, 35.4% of respondents (34.5% in the methadone group, 36.6% in the buprenorphine group, P= 0.69) had used at least one illicit drug, 25.7% reported having injected drugs and 15.3% had injected the substitution drug. Injection was more common among buprenorphine‐maintained individuals (40.1%) than among users on methadone (15.2%) (P < 0.01). Multivariate analyses indicate that the type of substitution drug (buprenorphine versus methadone) was not associated with illicit drug use (OR = 1.1; 95% CI = 0.7–1.8). In the buprenorphine group, injection was related independently to social situation, as measured by housing (unstable versus stable housing, OR = 4.3; 95% CI = 1.6–11.5), but this was not the case in the methadone group. The risk of injection increased with buprenorphine dosage (high/low dosage OR = 6.2; 95% CI = 2.0–19.7), but this association was not observed in the methadone group. Conclusion Further studies comparing the benefits of these two types of treatment should be carried out, taking outcomes such as physical health, mental health and social functioning into consideration.     

French general practitioners' attitudes and reported practices in relation to their participation and effectiveness in a minimal smoking cessation programme for patients

Aims. To examine the participation and effectiveness of GPs in offering a minimal smoking cessation intervention according to attitudinal and reported behaviour variables. Design. General practitioners were surveyed about their practices and attitudes and then matched pairs of smoking and non-smoking doctors were invited to participate in a regional smoking cessation intervention. The relationship of survey responses and the degree of participation and effectiveness in a smoking cessation trial was examined. Setting. Primary care doctors in a large region of southern France, Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur (PACA). Participants. Two thousand, eight hundred and sixty GPs from the PACA region in France were interviewed about their attitudes and behaviours. From among 371 smoking GPs and 375 non-smoking GPs invited to take part in a smoking cessation trial with patients, 170 smokers and 202 non-smokers participated. Measurements. The GPs' attitudes and reported professional and personal practices were assessed in a telephone interview. These responses were compared with the GPs' participation in the cessation trial, and with GP "success" (1 or more patients stopping smoking at 1 month, 12 months or both) or "non-success" (no patient cessation at 1 month or at 12 months). Findings. A significantly lower proportion of smokers than non-smokers among the GPs who initially accepted did not participate in the study (45% vs. 54.1%, chi2=5.147 df="1," p 0.05, difference: 8.3% 95% CI: 1.2%; 15.5%), but thereafter, there were no significant associations between GPs' reported smoking practices and attitudes and the extent of their participation or effectiveness. Conclusions. The study results indicate that, when minimal advice has an effect, it is due more to the systematic nature of the provision of the intervention than to the attitudes or reported practices of the practitioner providing the advice.     

Patient attitudes toward treatment predict attendance in clinical pharmacotherapy trials of alcohol and drug treatment

This study evaluated for 152 patients the relationship between their attitudes toward treatment and session attendance in pharmacotherapy research trials aimed at treating alcohol dependence. The study included a new, 50-item, patient-administered measure of attitudes, Treatment Research Experiences and Attitudes Task (TREAT), which is comprised of ten items from each of five attitudinal dimensions typically associated with treatment adherence: treatment setting, taking medication, social support, medical professional, and intrinsic patient factors. Patients attending 80% or more clinical sessions scored higher, i.e., were more favorable on four of five of attitudinal dimensions. Thus, patient attitudes toward treatment may be useful in identifying areas that limit or improve treatment attendance.     

The AAPPQ Revisited: the measurement of general practitioners' attitudes to alcohol problems

Four hundred and sixty-seven general practitioners were sent a postal survey enquiring about their management of alcohol problems. Their attitudes towards working with patients with alcohol problems were measured by the alcohol and alcohol problems perception questionnaire (AAPPQ). The responses to the AAPPQ formed the subject of a data reduction technique to form a shortened scale often items (Short AAPPQ) which was demonstrated to be as valid as the original AAPPQ. It is suggested that the SAAPPQ is a more simple and useful measure of general practitioner's attitudes to working with patients with alcohol problems.     

Validation of a French translation of the Edinburgh claudication questionnaire among general practitioners' patients

OBJECTIVES: Intermittent claudication is one of the clinical symptoms of peripheral arterial disease (PAD). The presence of PAD is a high risk marker of cardiac events and stroke. The PAD screening can be enhanced by the use of questionnaires. The Edinburgh Questionnaire presents in its English version better diagnostic performances compared to the Rose (WHO) Questionnaire. The aim of this study is to precise the performances of the French version of the Edinburgh Questionnaire among a population consulting general practitioners. METHODS: Four centers instructed 10 general practitioners each to the measurement of ankle pressure with a Doppler stethoscope. The physicians administrated the Questionnaire to 10 consecutive consultants in a same day, and measured the pressure on posterior tibial, dorsalis pedis and humeral arteries. With a second questionnaire they collected data concerning age, weight, height, and the presence of major risk factors. The same protocol was repeated a second day on new patients. The diagnosis of PAD was based on an ankle-arm index lower than 0.85 for at least on limb. RESULTS: The population studied consisted of 727 subjects (351 females and 376 males). The mean age was at 58.3 +/- 16.1 years (ranging from 18 to 83.3 years). The sensitivity of the Questionnaire is at 47% (95% CI: 32.3-61.7%), the specificity at 98.8% (95% CI: 97.5-99.4%), the positive and negative predictive values are respectively at 73.3% (95% CI: 54.1-87.7%) and 94.8% (95% CI: 94.7-97.6%). Among this population of general practitioners consultants, the prevalence of a low ankle-arm index under 0.85 is at 6.7%. DISCUSSION: The French version of the Edinburgh Questionnaire maintains the very good specificity of the English version. The lower sensitivity could be explained by the choice of the gold standard, namely the ankle-arm index which includes asymptomatic patients with authentic PAD. The use of this Questionnaire can be recommended for the screening of this disease as well as in epidemiological studies.     

戒毒所内吸毒人群美沙酮维持治疗参与意愿调查

目的了解戒毒所内吸毒人群对美沙酮维持治疗(MMT)的认识及参与意愿。方法对戒毒所内吸毒人群进行问卷调查,收集吸毒人群的人口学特征、行为学特征、艾滋病(AIDS)知识、对MMT的认识及参与意愿等信息,并抽取3-5mL静脉血检测HIV抗体。结果共调查436名戒毒所内吸毒人员,HIV阳性者62人(14.2%);AIDS知识得分(7.47±1.129)分。236名(54.1%)调查对象表示出戒毒所后若复吸,愿意参与MMT。200名不愿意参加MMT的原因主要有:已经戒除毒瘾无需服用美沙酮(33.5%),美沙酮与海洛因一样有毒(17.5%),美沙酮不能替代海洛因无欣快感(8.5%),美沙酮不良反应多(6%)及不了解MMT(7%)等。单因素分析显示,入所前知道所在地MMT服药点、知道针具交换、文化程度、有自愿戒毒史和强制戒毒三次及以上、AIDS知识得分高、HIV感染等因素与MMT参与意愿相关;多因素Logistic回归分析显示,有自愿戒毒史、HIV感染及AIDS知识得分较高,是吸毒人群参与MMT的有利因素。结论被调查的吸毒人员中,愿意参与MMT的占半数以上,不愿意的原因多是对戒毒与MMT的认识不足,建议加大针对此类人群的MMT及AIDS相关知识宣传。