PHYSICIANS PERCEIVED VALUE OF INTERNATIONAL AIDS CONFERENCES AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS PATIENT ATTENDANCE

Objective-To determine the perceived value of attendance at an Interna tional AIDS Conference and attitudes towards the effect of patient att endance on the conference. Design-A confidential, self-administered qu estionnaire. Participants-102 physicians from the United Kingdom who a ttended the VIII International AIDS Conference in Amsterdam. Results-T here was an 84% response rate. 50% reported increased motivation for c linical work and 57% for research. Physicians with a lower HIV positiv e patient workload found the conference more valuable for finding out the latest information on HIV, compared with those with a higher workl oad (p = 0.04). Those with a higher patient workload found the confere nce more useful for increasing motivation for research than those with a lower HIV workload (p = 0.047). Conference attendance was felt to r educe burnout by 48% of respondents. The majority (55%) would prefer a more traditional meeting. Patient attendance was seen as improving th e standard of discussion of ethical and political issues but not on me dical or scientific issues. Conclusions-The International AIDS Confere nces are perceived as useful by those UK physicians who attend, but mo st would prefer a more ''traditional'' scientific meeting. Whilst pati ent participation was not seen as useful for medical or scientific dis cussions, it was felt to improve discussion of ethical and political i ssues. A smaller more focused conference may be equally useful to UK p hysicians.