Article Figures & Data
Figures
- Figure 1.
Accumulation of responses over time. WReN = Wisconsin Research Network; AAFP - American Academy of Family Physicians.
- Figure 2.
Distributions of diagnostic categories assigned to cases of inhalational anthrax. AAFP = American Academy of Family Physicians; WReN = Wisconsin Research Network; URI/VS = upper respiratory tract infection/viral syndrome; CNS infect = central nervous system infection; Inf/Bronch = influenza/bronchitis; Pneum = pneumonia.
Tables
- Table 1.
Comparison of Survey Methods, Response Rates and Times, and Hypothetical Case Management Approaches
Characteristic AAFP Survey 5 WReN Survey PValue AAFP = American Academy of Family Physicians; WReN = Wisconsin Research Network; NS = not significant. * Total cost of printing, envelopes, and postage divided by number of responses. The associated personnel costs are not included. † For case management, we compared responses between the Midwest subset of the AAFP sample (101 physicians, 43 respondents, and 97 responses to cases of inhalational anthrax evaluated) and WReN physicians (62 responses to cases of inhalational anthrax evaluated). Values are percentages of cases for which respondents indicated that they would use that management strategy. Survey method Location Nationwide Wisconsin Physicians eligible, No. 33,365 60 Physicians sent survey instruments, No. 662 55 Method of survey distribution Sent by conventional mail with self- addressed, stamped response postcard Sent by e-mail with instructions to reply by e-mail Distributions, No. 3 2 Time between distributions, days 21 7 Direct cost per response, $* 5.59 Nominal Response rate and time Physicians responding, No. (%) 245 (37.0) 26 (47.3) NS Range of response times, days 7–172 1–21 Median response time, days 28 2 <.0001 Case management† Hospitalize the patient, % 62.9 62.7 NS Obtain a chest radiograph, % 84.2 86.7 NS Obtain a specimen for blood culture, % 55.2 45.9 NS Initiate empiric antibiotic therapy, % 58.8 45.9 NS
The Article in Brief
In cases of bioterrorism, primary care doctors need to diagnose diseases that are rare and that may resemble other, more common diseases. Practice-based research networks (PBRNs) are groups of primary care practices that join together to conduct research in the medical office setting. PBRNs in which the doctors can be contacted by e-mail are well-suited to identify and deal with bioterrorism. They can play an important role in gathering data quickly and providing early detection of bioterrorism.
