Importance, facilitators and barriers for finnish general practitioner involvement in clinical practice guideline panels: a survey.

Abstract

Background: Difficulties in recruiting general practitioners (GPs) to clinical practice guideline panels (CPGPs) have been noted. However, little is known about the specific nature of these challenges. Our objective was to investigate (1) GPs' insights on the importance of their involvement in clinical practice guideline development and (2) the most essential facilitators and barriers related to GPs' involvement in CPGPs.

Methods: For this survey, we invited GPs who had been CPGP members in Current Care Guidelines of Finnish Medical Society Duodecim during the years 2017-2022 (n = 78) to an e-mail survey, which collected information on respondents' backgrounds and aspects of their GP involvement prior to, during, and after the clinical practice guideline process. GPs were identified from the registry of Duodecim. In this article, we report the qualitative analysis of the data. We analysed open-ended questions both deductively (using WONCA core competencies) and inductively regarding the question of important reasons for GP involvement. Facilitators and barriers to involvement were analysed inductively.

Results: Overall, 39 GPs (50.0%) responded. The three most important elements reflecting importance of GPs' involvement in CPGPs were GPs' understanding of primary care management, GPs' role as a major target group of clinical practice guidelines, and GP-specific problem-solving skills. The most important facilitators were information and education related to guideline work, a supportive employer attitude, and financial support. Conversely, lack of time and knowledge regarding the critical appraisal of research evidence were the most important barriers.

Conclusion: GPs' involvement in CPGPs should be supported by strengthening the promotive factors and reducing barriers to participation.