The Journal of the American Board of Family Practice / American Board of Family Practice
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J Am Board Fam Pract · Sep 1999
Family practice patients' attitudes toward firearm safety as a preventive medicine issue: a HARNET Study. Harrisburg Area Research Network.
Firearm-related deaths are expected to outnumber motor-vehicle-related deaths within the next 5 years. The goal of this project was to document gun ownership and safety habits among patients of family physicians and to determine patients' attitudes toward physician counseling about firearm safety. ⋯ With regard to firearm safety, family physicians lack credibility in the eyes of their patients. These patients do not appear to be receptive to information about firearm safety, and efforts to decrease firearm-related injury might be more effective if focused elsewhere.