Attitudes of family medicine residents towards patients with alcohol-related problems

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate attitudes of family medicine residents to patients with alcohol-related problems. Study design: Cross-sectional study. Participants: Family medicine residents registered in the Family Medicine Residency Program in Lisbon. Methods: Attitudes to patients with alcohol-related problems were assessed using the Short Alcohol and Alcohol Problems Perception Questionnaire. Associations were tested between questionnaire scores, gender and postgraduate training year. Results: One hundred and ninety five residents meeting inclusion and exclusion criteria answered the questionnaire. Residents were on average 29.2 years old, and 74.4% were female. Residents felt secure in working with at-risk drinkers (88.7% scored above the Role Security scale midpoint) but reported lower levels of therapeutic commitment (57.9% scored above the scale midpoint). Although residents showed on average positive attitudes, they considered working with patients with alcohol-related problems an unpleasant task. Male and female residents reported similar attitudes towards these patients in all questionnaire domains (all p>0.05), and their attitudes remained unchanged throughout training (all p>0.05). Conclusions: Residency training does not change residents’ attitudes to patients with excessive alcohol consumption. Inclusion of alcohol specific training modules into the residency program that take residents’ attitudes into account may help to improve residents’ willingness to counsel problem drinkers to reduce alcohol consumption.