Are primary-care physician practices related to health behaviors likely to reduce social inequalities in health?

2017

Abstract Our objective was to examine patients' health behaviors and the related practices of their primary-care physicians to determine whether physicians' actions might help to reduce the social inequalities in health behaviors among their patients. Fifty-two general practitioners, who were also medical school instructors in the Parisian area, volunteered to participate. A sample of 70 patients (stratified by sex) aged 40–70 years was randomly chosen from each physician's patient panel and asked to complete a questionnaire about their social position and health behaviors: tobacco and alcohol use, diet, physical activity, and participation in breast and cervical cancer screening. Each phys…