Self-assessment and opinions of family physicians on screening and follow-up programs in practice: A case study of Çanakkale

Background and Aim: The present study aimed to determine the implementation levels of preventive health services as defined by the Ministry of Health among family physicians working in Çanakkale. Additionally, the study aims to evaluate the opinions of family physicians regarding these services and assess the problems they encounter in the process. Material and Methods: A two-stage mixed-methods approach, the first of which is quantitative, and either is qualitative, was employed in the research. Although the entire population was aimed at, a total of 170 primary care physicians in Çanakkale were included in the first part of the study, and data were collected with the questionnaire. Then, in the second part of the study, a semi-structured form was used in individual interviews for in-depth discussions with five participants. The HYP (Hastalık Yönetim Platformu) and PSM (Periyodik Sağlık Muayeneleri ve Tarama Testleri Rehberi) were used, and the application level of participants was scored between 0- 100. Results: 142 family physicians were included in the first stage of the study (rate of participants 83.5%). 58.5% of participants were male, 80.3% of all were practicing family physicians and the age average was 45.2. The participants' rates of perceiving HYP and PSM as applicable are 15.5% and 42.3%, respectively. The PSM application score is 62.8, and the HYP application score is 26.5, with a statistically significant difference. A positively correlated, weak relationship was found between the daily average number of examinations and the HYP application score. There were no significant relationships between other sociodemographic characteristics, work features, and HYP and PSM application scores. In the second part of the study, three main schemes exist about preventive health services in the interview as arguments, issues, and solution suggestions. Conclusion: Based on the research, participants perceive and implement the applicability of recommended preventive health services in primary care as insufficient. Excessive workloads of primary care physicians, inadequate responsibility of patients, and the immoderate population of the units are some reasons for a lack of health care services.