The role of the primary care physician

Article Abstract:

Primary care physicians should play an increasingly greater role in the care and treatment of HIV patients. People prefer to be treated in their own community, and health care delivery through primary care settings is cheaper and faster. Primary care's focus on health promotion and disease prevention and on continuous care and managing chronic illness is well-suited to HIV care. Primary care physicians are in a position to educate their patients on the risk factors of HIV infection, to test for HIV, and to monitor the course of HIV infection through early drug intervention and detection of opportunistic infections. Primary care physicians can refer their HIV patients to peer support groups, counselors or special services such as alcohol detoxification or prenatal care programs. Primary care physicians may also be the most appropriate to care for patients in the terminal stages of HIV disease.

Care and treatment, HIV infection, HIV infections, HIV patients

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HIV counseling and testing of pregnant women and women of childbearing age by primary care providers: self-reported beliefs and practices

Article Abstract:

Many primary care physicians may be missing opportunities to offer voluntary HIV testing and counseling to pregnant women. A survey of 180 primary care physicians found that while 86% supported voluntary HIV testing and 90% would offer testing to pregnant women with risk factors for HIV infection, only 34% would offer testing to pregnant women with no risk factors. Only 9% would offer testing to non-pregnant women of childbearing age with no risk factors for HIV infection. Studies have shown that giving HIV-positive pregnant women zidovudine significantly reduces the risk of transmitting the virus to the baby.

Testing, Surveys, Pregnant women, HIV testing, HIV tests

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