[Research interest by general practitioners: a survey]

For doing research on topics in primary care medicine participation of primary care physicians is necessary. Research in this field of medicine is only marginally established in Switzerland.

In a postal survey we evaluate the general attitudes of physicians towards research in the field of primary care. In particular we were interested in their willingness to participate in research projects and the facilitating and impeding factors to take part in such projects.

A purpose designed questionnaire was sent by post to 3044 primary care physicians in the central and eastern parts of Switzerland.

The return rate was 52%. A majority of 94% of the responding physicians revealed interest in primary care research and 60% of all responders are willing to participate actively in such projects. They are prepared to spend about 15 min a day for data acquisition. Their willingness to participate depends on the conditions that, first, the research topic is relevant for daily practice and, second, boards odder Continuous Medical Education credits for time spent for research. Time constraints, additional administrative work and lack of relevance of research topics to daily practice are the main barriers.

This survey demonstrates the general interest of primary care physicians to participate in relevant research projects. Therefore the structure to set up such research should be established.