In Germany, it is the intended key role of the family doctor to inform and sensitise the patients about individual age-related driving-relevant and to develop specific compensation strategies together with the patient. The aim of the present project was a detailed inventory of the quantity and the quality of medical traffic safety consultation. For this, an online-interview with 130 family doctors has been conducted. All participants agree that traffic consultation by the family doctor is needed. However, for most of the participants, traffic safety consultation has not been part of their professional education so far. The participants complain about a lack of suitable training and education offers. The main problems with which the participants are confronted during traffic safety consultation are specific knowledge gaps (legal frame, traffic medical expertise) as well as lack of time. Furthermore, some participants are worried to endanger the good relationship to their patients. Most of the participants mainly regard it as their task to inform about a possibly impaired driving fitness due to distinct driving-relevant symptoms or about possibly impaired driving safety due to medication causing driving-relevant side effects. It is highly questionable if the concept of a detailed conversation in response to specific needs may be integrated in the daily business of a family doctor as a prevention method based on individual needs. Up to now, to implement this concept, temporal and financial resources as well as an adequate education are missing. For further research on traffic safety consultation by family doctors, the authors recommend to cooperate with medical expert associations or institutes of general practice at the German universities. At these institutes, the family doctors of tomorrow are educated and the curricula of the medical degree program developed. There are promising possibilities to coordinate and implement nationwide projects. (Author/publisher)
Abstract