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Table 1 GPs' perceptions of substance use characteristics of their patients (N = 53)

From: Perceptions of substance use, treatment options and training needs among Iranian primary care physicians

Characteristic a % or n
Of your patients who have drug problems, what % are:  
   Male 81%
What is the cause of addiction? b  
   Emotional 49%
   Social 45%
   Family 35%
   Economic 31%
   Leisure 31%
   Wrong role models 26%
In the last 5 years, have drug addiction trends increased, decreased, unchanged:  
   Increased 94%
In the last 5 years, drug abuse increased more for males or females c :  
   Females 42%
   Males 38%
   Same 18%
If increased, why? d  
   Social/family issues 22
   Economic reasons 20
   Unemployment 17
   Easy access to drugs 17
   Lack of recreation/sport facilities 10
   Youth-related issues 9
   Ineffective law enforcement/government action 6
   Inadequate education 2
   Other 10
What is your view of drug addicts? b  
   Psychologically ill 82%
   Physically ill 22%
   Burden on society 22%
   Criminals 2%
Level of awareness about substance abuse e  
   Moderate 54%
   High 27%
  1. aData missing: n = 2–5
  2. bDoes not sum to 100%, because some GPs gave more than one answer and some gave no answer
  3. cDon't know = 2%
  4. dDoes not sum to 53, because some GPs gave more than one answer and same gave no answer
  5. eAwareness rated on Likert scale from 1 (very unaware) – 10 (very aware): low = 1–3; moderate = 4–8; high = 8–10
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International Journal for Equity in Health

ISSN: 1475-9276

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