Rural patients' interests in preventive medical care.

A number of national studies have reported patients' interests in preventive medical care, but rural populations have not been well studied. We surveyed patients from a major clinic in rural central Minnesota to determine their interests in preventive medical care and their physicians' perceptions of those interests. Of 270 patients who responded to a questionnaire, 63-93 percent agreed that physicians should perform a wide variety of primary and secondary preventive medical services, such as periodic health examinations and counseling about smoking, exercise, and diet. Study physicians recommended most preventive medical services at least as often as did their patients, but physicians consistently underestimated patients' wishes for these services. Our results indicate that this rural clinic population is interested in a broad range of preventive medical services, which was not fully appreciated by the physicians.