[Skills perceived by general practitioners for providing care to immigrant patients].

Objective: To identify the skills perceived by general practitioners for providing competent care to immigrants MATERIAL AND METHODS: Observational, descriptive and cross-sectional study with data collection using a 21-item questionnaire completed electronically by the general practitioners and validated by the National Validation Commission of SEMERGEN. It was structured with closed-ended, multiple-choice test questions, including variables related to the doctor and variables related to the immigrant patient. The level of professional competence was assessed using a 1 to 10 Likert scale.

Results: A total 610 family physicians with a mean age of 47.5±12.3 years responded and 64.1% were women. Of these, 112 (18.4%) were residents. The response rate was 4.9%. A large majority (72.6%) had not taken part in continuing education courses on caring for immigrants in the last 5years. Participants reported difficulties in the clinic: 73% of the cases with the language, 38.7% with the allotted time, and 32.3% due to knowledge of the culture. Most (96.9%) of patients attended the clinic due to a common illness. The cause in 14.4% was related to the migratory process (infectious disease acquired in the country of origin), and in 26.4% with the health conditions in the host country (lack of stable housing, overcrowding, and conditions of work). The perceived level of competence was 6.2±1.9.

Conclusions: The competence perceived by general practitioners in providing care to immigrants is moderate. The most important barriers for these professionals are ignorance of the language, lack of time allocated for consultation, and ignorance of the patient's culture.