PROCEDURES IN AMBULATORY CARE - WHICH FAMILY PHYSICIANS DO WHAT IN SOUTHWESTERN ONTARIO

OBJECTIVE To determine how often family physicians perform 12 ambulato ry care procedures and factors associated with procedure performance. DESIGN Mailed, self-administered survey. The survey was conducted acco rding to the Dillman Total Design method. SETTING Family physicians' o ffices in London, Ont, and in surrounding communities. PARTICIPANTS A total of 395 family physicians practising within the London area were mailed surveys, 237 in London and 158 outside London. Response rates w ere 80.6% and 75.9%, respectively. Nonresponders did not differ signif icantly from responders in sex but included more solo practitioners. M AIN OUTCOME MEASURES Performance of ambulatory care procedures, sex, a nd practice characteristics of participant family physicians. RESULTS For all responders, activities significantly associated with procedure performance were delivering babies, managing psychological problems, working emergency, and teaching. Mean total procedure scores ranged fr om 6.55 for managing psychological problems to 7.68 for working emerge ncy. Sex-specific analysis showed that practice location and years in practice were significant factors for female but not for male family p hysicians. Mean total procedure scores for female physicians were 7.06 (outside London) and 4.74 (in London). CONCLUSIONS Factors associated with procedure performance for family physicians in and around London included delivering babies, working in emergency, managing psychologi cal problems, and leaching. Practice location was a significant factor for only female family physicians; those practising outside London pe rformed procedures more than their urban counterparts and at similar r ates to male physicians.