Preconception care by family physicians and general practitioners in Japan.

Kazuya Kitamura,Nobutaro Ban,Michael D Fetters

doi:10.1186/1471-2296-6-31

Kazuya Kitamura, Nobutaro Ban + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2296-6-31

Copy DOI

Abstract

BackgroundPreconception care provided by family physicians/general practitioners (FP/GPs) can provide predictable benefits to mothers and infants. The objective of this study was to elucidate knowledge of, attitudes about, and practices of preconception care by FP/GPs in Japan.MethodsA survey was distributed to physician members of the Japanese Academy of Family Medicine. The questionnaire addressed experiences of preconception education in medical school and residency, frequency of preconception care in clinical practice, attitudes about providing preconception care, and perceived need for preconception education to medical students and residents.ResultsTwo hundred and sixty-eight of 347 (77%) eligible physicians responded. The most common education they reported receiving was about smoking cessation (71%), and the least was about folic acid supplementation (12%). Many participants reported providing smoking cessation in their practice (60%), though only about one third of respondents advise restricting alcohol intake. Few reported advising calcium supplementation (10%) or folic acid supplementation (4%). About 70% reported their willingness to provide preconception care. Almost all participants believe medical students and residents should have education about preconception care.ConclusionFP/GPs in Japan report little training in preconception care and few currently provide it. With training, most participants are willing to provide preconception care themselves and think medical students and residents should receive this education.

Highlights

Preconception care provided by family physicians/general practitioners (FP/GPs) can provide predictable benefits to mothers and infants
Appropriate preconception care provided by family physician/general practitioners (FP/GPs) can provide great benefits to mothers and infants. [1,2,3,4] In spite of many potentially helpful interventions prior to conception, there is little literature illustrating the effectiveness of preconception services delivery through primary care settings
The physician members include a diverse group: those trained in a family medicine training program in the US or Japan, those trained in another specialty or multiple specialties and became a general practitioner after entering practice, and those who trained in a general internal medicine program in Japan or the US

Summary

Introduction

Preconception care provided by family physicians/general practitioners (FP/GPs) can provide predictable benefits to mothers and infants. The objective of this study was to elucidate knowledge of, attitudes about, and practices of preconception care by FP/GPs in Japan. Appropriate preconception care provided by family physician/general practitioners (FP/GPs) can provide great benefits to mothers and infants. [1,2,3,4] In spite of many potentially helpful interventions prior to conception, there is little literature illustrating the effectiveness of preconception services delivery through primary care settings. Despite a longstanding call for family physicians to provide preventive care in Japan,[7] we hypothesized that few FP/GPs are providing preconception counseling

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion