AN EVALUATION OF THE NCI PHYSICIAN DATA QUERY (PDQ) DISSEMINATION IN EUROPE

The Physician Data Query (PDQ) is a computerised medical database aime d at communicating cancer-related information through computer technol ogy. PDQ has been distributed in Europe since 1988 and in the U.S. sin ce 1985. A study aimed at evaluating whether PDQ had reached a wide me dical community was conducted among European PDQ distributors in 1992 as part of an evaluation of PDQ use and impact. Results indicate that PDQ promotion was limited and that several countries were underserved. A preference was expressed for on-line systems. It was found that PDQ access was limited by the requirement of special equipment, by subscr iption costs and by language barriers. Subscribers were found mainly i n the countries with the highest number of distributors. Among a total 12,205 reported subscribers, only 20% were physicians. The proportion of physicians subscribing to the system was, therefore, low (range 4- 39.7/10,000). Altogether 453 searches (range 0-213) and 83.5 h of conn ection time (range 0-52.5) were reported per month for Europe. It is o bvious that additional investigation is needed to further evaluate the impact of PDQ on clinical practice. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.