General practitioners' reactions to non-compliant patients

Objective - To examine how general practitioners (GPs) respond to patients who are non-compliant with medical advice and who doctors believe act irres ponsibly towards their health. Design - Quantitative analysis of responses to questionnaire with case hist ories. Setting and subjects - 93 questionnaires completed by a random strat ified sample of Norwegian GPs. Main outcome measures - Scores relating to GPs' feelings and choice of main and sub-strategies for further treatment of patients. Results - The respondents typically felt discouraged or unaffected by non-c ompliant patients, younger doctors more often felt helpless while older one s were more content, and female doctors more often than male doctors felt i rritated or angry. The main strategy preferred was to give the patient a ne w appointment. The young, the inexperienced, and females tended more often to ask a colleague for advice or refer to a specialist. Patient-centred sub -strategies were generally preferred, especially by younger doctors. Conclusion - GPs' feelings towards and strategies for dealing with non-comp liant patients vary, and the doctor's age, sex and clinical experience are central variables.