[Physicians working at the NHS Prevention Department: a national survey in Italy]

In Italy NHS Prevention Departments (PDs) are central in Public Health (PH) management. Objective was to describe profile of Medical Doctors (MDs) working at Italian PDs. The study, part of another survey, was conducted in 2003, using a phone questionnaire to administer to a sample of Italian MDs in PH. Response rate was 72.3% (603/833). Physicians of PDs were 255, 42.3% of whole sample. Job satisfaction mean (scale: 0-100) was 66.6 (SD = 19.3). 81.6% (208/225) of MDs said that Regions must monitor health status to identify collective risks and problems, while 77.3% (197/255) of them answered that function of State is to develop politics and planes to pursue individual and collective health. The study gives a positive frame of MDs at PDs. They were satisfied and persuaded of importance of State and Regions in PH management.