DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2014.v02i05.052

Pages: 1751-1756

The objective of the study was to determine the attitude and practices of General Practitioners of sub-urban area of Karachi related to lifestyle counseling and health promotion. It was a cross-sectional study conducted using a survey questionnaire filled by General Practitioners working in Primary Healthcare clinics in Lyari-Korangi area of Karachi. Two hundred and ten GPs were eligible for the survey non-probability purposive sampling. The mean, standard deviation and ranges of all measurements were compared with the norms established by Steiner. All statistical evaluation was performed by SPSS 16 .0 version software, the student t-test were performed to compare the sample with Steiner means. Those GPs assigning a high priority level to preventive medicine also practiced lifestyle counseling and disease promotion more often. Most GPs said they were prepared to counsel patients regarding different lifestyle behaviors. A large percentage of GPs opined that their effectiveness to help patients modify their lifestyle behaviors would increase following professional training for lifestyle counseling and disease promotion. In conclusion, despite grave health statistics of the country, the GPs have a positive attitude about lifestyle counseling and health promotion. The decadent status of preventive practices and decreased morale related to their effectiveness in helping the population change risky lifestyle behaviors have to be supported by training and awareness campaigns of general public at massive scale to make healthcare environment conducive for such non-medication yet economic interventions.