TAKING ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY WHILE PROVIDING PRIMARY HEALTH CARE: AWARENESS, ATTITUDE AND BEHAVIOR; A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

To evaluate the impact of the environment on human health, it is necessary to take a comprehensive environmental history. It is very important that these methods are learned and applied by all physicians, especially primary care physicians. The aim of this study is to examine the awareness, attitudes, and behaviors of family physicians who take primary duties in primary care regarding environmental history. The study is a cross-sectional study and was carried out between December 2018 and December 2019. There are 84 family physicians working in the central district of Aydın. It was aimed to reach the entire study population, and 90.5% (n=76) participated in the study. The structured interview form was applied face-to-face method. The mean environmental story awareness score of the physicians was determined as 14.26±4.41. It was determined that 47.8% of the physicians took environmental history. 7.9% of the physicians stated that they received special training on environmental history. Average awareness of environmental history among those with more than 30 years of practice compared to those with less than 30 years of practice, those who received education about environmental history compared to those who did not receive education about environmental history, and physicians who frequently/always take environmental history compared to those with less environmental history were found to have higher scores. By providing the physicians with adequate time and conditions for patient examinations and providing training on why taking environmental history is important, this pressure on physicians can be reduced, and as a result, physicians' provision of this service can be facilitated.