[Representations of clinical practice guidelines by general practitioners]

The objective of this study is to understand the representations of general practitioners in regards to clinical practice guidelines. Two general practitioners samples have been studied according to two analytical methods: the method of scenarios, sent by e-mail to doctors belonging to a network, and a round table gathering volunteers having answered the scenario and drawn lots. 279 answers were received from 252 men and 27 women (response rate of 80%); eleven doctors (4 women) participated in the round table. Results analysis shows that the credibility of the scenario is judged as very good. Only 39% of the referees estimated that practice guidelines are little useful. The ideal type of answers was established. Five themes appeared from the debate, the main two being the elaboration of the guidelines and the measured opposition between medicine applied to individuals and epidemiology. The majority of the physicians considered clinical guidelines as a trump card, at the same moment as a tool and as an instigation, but found them difficult to hold and asked for their improvement.