Table 1

Studies addressing barriers towards EBM in general practice

Study Year
Olantunbosun et al, 1998 [1]
Mc Coll et al 1998 [2]
McAlister et al 1999 [3]
Mayer et al 1999 [4]
Tomlin et al 1999 [5]

Population
Randomised sample of GPs and Gynaecologists in Canada
Randomised sample of GPs in Wessex, United Kingdom
Gps, members of the 'Canadian Society of Internal Medicine, Canada
Purposeful sample of GPs of educational programs, courses, supervisors of the 'Adelaide Royal Australian college of GPs', GPs from the Darwin Urban division of GPs, Australia
Purposeful sample of 8 practices of GPs in the North Tames region, members of the 'Medical Research Council General Practice Research Framework', United Kingdom
Design
Quantitative: Questionnaire
Quantitative: Questionnaire
Cross-sectional research: Questionnaire
Qualitative: Focus groups
Qualitative: Semi-structured interviews
Respondents
N = 154 GPs
Response rate 78%
N = 452
Response rate 67%
N = 294
Response rate 60%
N = 27
N = 24
Barriers
Factors
-Time consuming
-Decrease of the art of medicine
-Lack of evidence
-Experience not taken into account
Factors
-no skills in critical appraisal
-EBM threatens GPs
-Time consuming
-No access to information
-Organisational Chaos
-No financial profits
-Gaps in evidence
-Evidence does not fit general practice
-Too much evidence
-Evidence hard to implement
Factors
-Too academic
-Decrease of the art of medicine
-Movement still young
-Gaps in evidence
-not applicable to individual patient
-Decrease of importance of experience
Factors
-Reduction of therapeutic freedom
-Contradictions in evidence
-Not applicable in daily practice
-Not applicable to individual patient
-Studies too quantitative
Factors
-lack of time
-Lack of information sources
-Lack of knowledge and skills
-Too much pressure, less motivation
-Evidence does not count complexity of situations in practice

Actors
Patients
-erosion of autonomy
Actors
Patients:
-expectations do not fit EBM
-does not except certain advice
Colleagues:
-Not evidence-based minded
Government:
-No investments
Media:
-Counterproductive messages

Actors
Commercial organisations:
-have influence on evidence
Patients:
-Do not count in terms of risks
Actors
Patients:
-No compliance
-Specific cultural background
-Specific values and knowledge
-Behaviour GP = avoiding conflict
-Clientism

Study Year
Scott et al 2000 [6]
Freeman et al 2001 [7]
Young et al 2001 [8]
Ely et al 2002 [9]
Putnam et al 2002 [10]

Population
Sample of members from the 'Internal Medicine Society', Australia and New Zealand, participants of an EBM-course program, doctors with a practice in 5 hospitals
Purposeful sample of GPs out of three regions concentrated around a hospital, United Kingdom
1. GPs, participants of a research project on preventive care, selection of those willing to participate, Australia
Sample of GPs in Iowa, United States
Purposeful sample of GPs with a minimum of one year experience, patients with cardiovascular problems, working in the region Nova Scotia, Scotland
Design
Quantitative: Questionnaire
Qualitative: 3 focus groups
1. Quantitative: Questionnaire 2. Qualitative: semi-structured interviews
Qualitative: observations
Qualitative: 9 focus groups
Respondents
N = 111
Response rate 20%
N = 19
N = 60
N = 25
N = 50
Barriers
Factors
-Lack of time
-No access to information
-Problems in organisation
-Lack of knowledge and skills
-GPs not motivated
-Not applicable to individual patient
-Inconsequence in evidence
Factors
-Lack of logistic support
-Too many habitudes
-Decrease of importance of experience
Factors
-Lack of time
-High cost of information sources
-Lack of skills
-Not applicable in daily practice
-Evidence-Based acting = less patients an hour
Factors
-Lack of knowledge and skills
-Too less capacities to implement EBM in practice
Factors
-Lack of time
-Lack of competences
-Evidence = dogma, confusing
-Not applicable to individual patient
-Decrease of importance of experience


Actors
Patients:
-Does not accept certain advice
-Specific characteristics
-Asks for certain treatments
-Do not always understand evidence-based message
Colleagues:
-Do not consider the patient in total
-Specialist = evidence-based mafia
Actors
Patients:
-Asks for certain treatments
-Specific expectations
-Do not always understand evidence-based message

Actors
Patients:
-Brings info from internet
-Not interested in EBM
-Not enough competences to understand EBM
-Creates uncertainty in the patient

Study Year
Al-Ansary et al 2002 [11]
Shawn et al 2003 [12]




Population
All GPs out of the region Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
GPs/participants of a national research program on the implementation of EBM,



Design
Quantitative: cross-sectional research, questionnaire
Qualitative: semi-structured interviews



Respondents
N = 559
response rate 86%
N = 15



Barriers
Factors
-Lack of time
-No access to information sources
-Limited information sources
-No high quality training programs available
Factors
-Lack of time
-Lack of information sources
-No access to information sources
-Lack of competences
-Scientific studies not attractive
-Decrease of the art of medicine
-Decrease of clinical autonomy
-Too much pressure
-Inconsequence in evidence
-Reliability and generalisation of scientific studies?
-Not applicable in general practice
-GPs actions based on intuition




Actors
Patients:
-Specific attitude
Actors
Patients:
-Values and preferences of patients must be considered
Colleagues:
-Too less specialists working local
Commercial organisations:
-evidence sponsored by industry




Hannes et al. BMC Family Practice 2005 6:37   doi:10.1186/1471-2296-6-37