Taking environmental history while providing primary health care: awareness, attitude and behavior; a cross-sectional study

Background: To evaluate the impact of the environment on human health, it is necessary to take a comprehensive environmental history. It is very important that these methods are learned and applied by all physicians, especially primary care physicians. The aim of this study is to examine the awareness, attitudes and behaviors of family physicians who take primary duties in primary care regarding environmental history. Methods: The study is a cross-sectional study. There are 84 family physicians working in the central district of Aydın. It was aimed to reach the entire study population, and 90.5% (n: 76) participated in the study. Results: It was determined that 47.8% of the physicians took environmental history. Among those with more than 30 years of occupation, those educated in environmental history were found to have higher scores. Conclusions: By providing the physicians with adequate time and conditions for patient examinations and providing training on why taking environmental history is important, this pressure on physicians can be reduced, and as a result, physicians' provision of this service can be facilitated.