AIDS-related experiences of primary care physicians in rural California, 1995

A telephone survey was conducted of primary care physicians in nonmetropolitan counties of California. In a random sample of those counties reporting fewer than 30 cases of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) as of December 1994, all physicians in practice were called; in counties reporting from 31 to 150 cases of AIDS as of the same date, a 30% random sample was selected for interviewing. Completion rates were 82% in the smallest counties and 70% in the larger counties (overall 72%). Two thirds of physicians reported that they had seen a patient positive for the human immunodeficiency virus and were providing continuing care for the disease. In all, 60% of physicians had seen a patient with AIDS. In these counties, there were 653 primary care physicians and 873 patients living with AIDS. The proportion of physicians providing care to persons with AIDS was twice that reported in previous surveys done in Los Angeles, California. In the interval (1985-1994), there was a 20-fold increase in the number of AIDS cases in California. In the nonmetropolitan areas, the number of AIDS cases in late 1994 was 290 times that reported in 1985.