FAMILY-PRACTICE PHYSICIANS FIREARM SAFETY COUNSELING BELIEFS AND BEHAVIORS

The purpose of this study was to identify family physicians' firearm s afety counseling beliefs and behaviors. A survey was mailed to a rando m sample of 600 members of the American Academy of Family Physicians. A three wave mailing technique was used to maximize the response rate and yielded 271 usable surveys (55% response rate). Outcome measures i ncluded training experience in firearm safety counseling, the prevalen ce of firearm safety counseling by family physicians, and their percep tions regarding such counseling. The majority (78%) of family physicia ns lacked formal training on how to counsel patients about firearm saf ety and 49% believed more time should be spent in residency programs o n firearm safety counseling. The majority (84%) of respondents never o r rarely counseled patients on firearm safety and 50% believed firearm safety counseling should be a low priority in their delivery of prima ry care. The majority of respondents did not regularly counsel patient s about firearm safety, did not believe firearm safety counseling shou ld be a priority, and did not believe firearm safety counseling would be effective in reducing firearm-related trauma.