General practitioners' use of evidence databases

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Abstract
Objective To determine the awareness and use of the Cochrane Library and access to the Internet by general practitioners in New South Wales. Design Cross‐sectional postal survey in September 1997. Participants 311 of 428 (73% response rate) randomly selected general practitioners in New South Wales. Main outcome measures Proportion of respondents with access to the Internet at home or at work; proportion of respondents aware of, with access to, and ever using the Cochrane Library; independent predictors of awareness of the Cochrane Library. Results 134 respondents (43%) had access to the Internet either at home or at work; 42 (14%) were “on line” at their workplace. Seventy (22%) were aware of the Cochrane Library, although only 20 (6%) had access to it and 13 (4%) had ever used it. Those in group practice and members of Divisions were independently more likely to be aware of the Cochrane Library. Conclusions As patient outcomes will improve with systematic implementation of evidence‐based treatments, these low rates of access to useful evidence databases raise issues regarding the best ways to support general practitioners with information technology.