Attitudes, Beliefs, and Current Practices Carried Out by Family Physicians in Spain Regarding the Prevention of Road Injuries in Older Adults: A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study
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Jiménez Mejías, Eladio; Ruiz Rodríguez, Fátima Isabel; Martín de los Reyes, Luis Miguel; Herrero Rubí, Jóse; Rivera Izquierdo, Mario; Martínez Ruiz, Virginia Ana; Lardelli Claret, PabloEditorial
Dove Press
Materia
Family physicians Road injuries Prevention Primary health care
Date
2023-03-10Referencia bibliográfica
Jiménez-Mejías E, Ruiz-Rodríguez FI, Martín-delosReyes LM, Herrero-Rubí J, Rivera-Izquierdo M, Martínez-Ruiz V, Lardelli-Claret P. Attitudes, Beliefs, and Current Practices Carried Out by Family Physicians in Spain Regarding the Prevention of Road Injuries in Older Adults: A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study. Clin Interv Aging. 2023;18:375-385 [https://doi.org/10.2147/CIA.S390903]
Abstract
Purpose: The activities related to the prevention of crash injuries in older adults (PCIOA) performed by Family Physicians (FPs)
have been scarcely studied. Our aim was to estimate the frequency of PCIOA activities performed by FPs in Spain and its association
with attitudes and beliefs regarding this health problem.
Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study in a nationwide sample of 1888 FPs working in Primary Health Care Services,
recruited from October 2016 to October 2018. Participants completed a validated, self-administered questionnaire. Study variables
included three scores related to current practices (General Practices, General Advice and Health Advice), several scores related to
attitudes (General, Drawbacks and Legal), demographic and workplace characteristics. To obtain the adjusted coefficients and their
95% confidence intervals, we applied mixed effects multi-level linear regression models and the likelihood-ratio test to compare multilevel
and one-level models.
Results: The frequency of PCIOA activities reported by FPs in Spain was low. The General Practices Score was 0.22/1, the General
Advice Score was 1.82/4, the Health Advice Score was 2.61/4, and the General Attitudes Score was 3.08/4. The importance given to
road crashes in the elderly obtained 7.16/10, the role that FPs should play in the PCIOA obtained 6.73/10, and the current perceived
role obtained 3.95/10. The General Attitudes Score and the importance that FPs give themselves in the PCIOA were associated with
the three Current Practices Scores.
Conclusion: The frequency of activities related to the PCIOA that FPs usually carry out in Spain is far below desirable standards. The
average level of attitudes and beliefs about the PCIOA of the FPs working in Spain seems adequate. The variables of the most pronounced
FPs associated with the prevention of traffic accidents in older drivers were age over 50 years, female sex and foreign nationality