[Difficulties in carrying out preventive activities in primary care].
OBJECTIVE: To find the difficulties perceived by Primary Care health professionals in integrating preventive activities into their daily practice. DESIGN: A descriptive study using a survey. SETTING: Barcelonès Nord and Maresme health region. PARTICIPANTS: Health professionals from primary care teams. RESULTS: The overall coverage of the survey was 47.7%. Pressure from patients or lack of time obtained the highest score (6.2), followed by the absence of a procedure or programme (4.5), absence of economic incentives (4.4) and the lack of material resources (4.2). The lowest scores corresponded to training (3.4) and motivation (2.9). CONCLUSIONS: Primary Care occupies a strategic position for carrying out preventive activities and health promotion. But in practice health professionals encounter various obstacles. Lack of time and forgetting preventive activities are basic factors. The registration sheets or other specific devices to act as reminders, together with procedures or programmes involving the joint participation of all the team members, can help resolve these problems. There is a clear need to concentrate on those problems which the professionals directly involved are most concerned with.