Do general practitioners want guidelines? Attitudes toward a county-based and a national college-based approach

Objective - We carried out two studies (a and b) to assess general practitioners' attitudes towards a) regionally developed guidelines and b) guidelines developed by the Danish College of General Practitioners. Design - a) A randomized study among all GPs in Aarhus county comparing their attitudes towards guidelines in general and towards regional multidisciplinary developed guidelines on Pap-testing for cervical cancer, and b) a survey among all Danish GPs on attitudes towards earlier submitted guidelines for diabetes Type 2. Setting - GPs in Aarhus county and in all Denmark. Subjects - a) Questionnaires sent to 370 doctors in Aarhus county, and b) to 3471 GPs in all Denmark. Main outcome measures - a) Attitudes to the known Pap guidelines compared with general attitudes. Themes in question were acceptance of guidelines, acceptance of multidisciplinary involvement, especially from the administrative staff, perceived effect on the consultation and the quality of care. In study b) remembrance of receiving, having read and used previous guidelines. Wishes with respect to future updates. Results - a) GPs were very positive towards the Pap guidelines they knew, and only few resisted. The number of positive answers was significantly fewer when doctors were asked about guidelines in general. b) There was an overwhelmingly positive attitude towards guidelines from the College on diabetes care and other topics relevant to GP work. Conclusion - Danish GPs reported a very positive attitude towards the presented well-known guidelines on Pap testing and diabetes Type 2, and a fairly positive attitude towards hypothetical questions on guidelines in general.