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[Functional intestinal disorders: assessment and perception by physicians of their patients perception. Results of
Objective:
In 1999, a first national survey on functional intestinal disorders (FID) revealed the patients' good perception of the medical corps and treatments proposed. The aim of the present study was to assess the physicians' perception of their patients, their symptoms and their degree of satisfaction.
Methods:
The survey was conducted among the physicians who had recruited the patients of the initial study. Eight hundred and eighty five replies were analysed (general practitioners--GPs: 88%; gastro-enterologists--GE: 11%).
Results:
The mean number of patients with FID seen in one week was of 11.40 (GP: 10.80; GE: 16.29). Thirty percent of patients were seen for the first time by a GP and 65 percent by a GE. The mean yearly number of consultations for these patients was of 7.16 for the GPs and 3.81 pour les GEs. A coloscopy was prescribed by 49% of GPs and 66% of GEs. The pain and transit disorders mentioned in 98 and 78.7% of cases had evolved over a mean of 56.57 months.
Comments:
Although aware of the repercussion of FID in daily life, the practitioners evaluated a psychological component of 69% in the expression of the disorder. They considered the pain intense in 6% of cases versus the 41% expressed by the patient. The scores out of 10 for 8 items showed a mean result of 6.86 in their evaluation of the degree of the patients' understanding of their disease and its treatment, and of 6.13 for the quality of the medical act. These same criteria, assessed one year earlier by the patients themselves, showed better scores.