MEDICAL REFERENCE DATABASES USED BY ARMY PRIMARY-CARE PHYSICIANS IN-FIELD ENVIRONMENTS

A cross-sectional survey of U.S. Army primary care physicians was done to answer two questions: (1) which medical reference materials are Ar my primary care physicians currently using when deployed to a field en vironment? and (2) what would they like to have for medical reference in a field environment? Of 740 surveys delivered to their intended rec ipients, 445 (60%) were returned. Currently, 96% of primary care physi cians use books, 37% use journals, and 11% use computer software in th eir medical reference database. Of those now using books, 72% were sat isfied with them, compared with 61% of those using journals and 45% of those using software, The most common book used was the Merck Manual. The most important characteristics desired in a field medical databas e were broad coverage, ease of use, and light weight. The majority of respondents believe that a good medical reference database is importan t but that current medical databases limit the quality of the medicine they practice in the field.