Muhammad Junaid Patel, Nawal Salahuddin, Waqar Kashif, Mehmood Riaz, Muhammad Tariq, Jawwad Samdani, Shoaib Khan, Syed Imran Ayaz, Ayesha Sorathia, Muhammad Furqan.
Preventive Medicine practices by Primary Care Providers in Karachi.
J Coll Physicians Surg Pak Jan ;18(3):193-4.

It was a cross-sectional study conducted at the Department of Medicine, Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan. A standardized questionnaire was given to PCPs attending Continued Medical Education (CME) activities at the University during November-December, 2006. The three-page self-reported questionnaire was developed by an expert panel of internal medicine physicians and consisted of six sections. Out of 91 PCPs, who were approached, 56 (62%) responded. Their mean age was 40 years with 68% males. The prescription pattern of adult vaccinations showed that a satisfactory number of PCPs advised hepatitis-B vaccine (89%) as compared to pneumococcal (48%), influenza (53%) and tetanus booster vaccines (66%). Seventy-six percent PCPs routinely screened their patients for cancers including lung (55%), oral (53%), breast (50%), colon (50%) and cervical (37%) carcinomas. Screening for DM was higher (92%) than hypercholesterolemia (73%), osteoporosis (46%), depression (62%), and dementia (26%). Major method used for screening osteoporosis was bone mineral density measurement by DEXA scan (74%). In terms of behavioural counselling, almost all PCPs advised balanced diet (96%), regular exercise (98%), obesity reduction (96%) and tobacco cessation (98%). Half (50%) of the PCPs recommended Aspirin prophylaxis to all patients over the age of 40 years but their number increased for patients with different risk factors.

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