Recording Patients' Consumption of Social Drugs in a Family Medicine Residency: a Longitudinal Study

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Abstract
Rodney W M (Department of Family Practice, San Bernardino County Medical Center, 780 East Gilbert Street, San Bernardino, CA 92415-0935, USA), Nutter D and Widoff B. Recording patients' consumption of social drugs in a family medicine residency: a longitudinal study. Family Practice 1985; 2: 86–90. ‘Social drugs’ such as nicotine, alcohol and caffeine may be risk factors in a variety of disorders. Over a five-year period an audit of 954 medical records was carried out in a university-based family medicine training programme. The aim was to investigate ways of improving physicians' compliance with the recording in the data base of the consumption of these substance by patients. Instruction through lectures and reminders produced no change in the recording of social drug usage in year 2, but the distribution of model dictations led to a significant change in year 3 for the recording of nicotine and alcohol consumption. This effect was sustained in years 4 and 5. Visual cues in the medical record led to a significant improvement in the notation of caffeine usage in year 4 and the effect was sustained in year 5. Additional audit sessions did not increase compliance with caffeine notation. Faculty and resident compliance with the recording of social drug history were not significantly different.

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