The Place of Quaternary Prevention Practices in Primary Care in Edirne

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the physician-related factors leading to excessive medical interventions in the primary care setting. Methods: A total of 126 physicians working in the Family Medicine centers in the primary care setting in Edirne Province, Türkiye were included in this study between September 2019 and November 2019. The data were collected with a questionnaire prepared by the researcher. The questionnaire consisted of 61 questions in total including four questions about the sociodemographic characteristics of the participants, 39 questions examining the factors that may lead to excessive medical intervention, and the Defensive Medicine Practices Attitude Scale, which had 18 questions. Results: According to physicians’ scores from the Defensive Medicine Practices Attitude Scale, the mean was 41.05±9.91 (min=14, max=62). We found that defensive medicine practices attitudes were very good in 10.3% (n=12) of physicians, good in 35.3% (n=41), moderate in 49.2% (n=57), and poor in 5.2% (n=6). Conclusion: The lack of knowledge is attributed to the difficulty in accessing reliable information and a lack of trust in the articles. This implies that article providers need to implement reforms in how they select and distribute these articles to physicians. The heightened fear of litigation among physicians also highlights the need for legal reforms. Keywords: quaternary prevention, malpractice, family practice, defensive medicine