OBJECTIVE: To describe Danish general practitioners' perception of their own role and to register their actual behaviour in the prevention of HIV/AIDS.

DESIGN: Data collection was carried out by a) questionnaire and b) prospective registration of consultations dealing with HIV/AIDS in a two-week period in September 1992.

SETTING: General practice, Denmark.

SUBJECTS: One thousand general practitioners (GPs), selected at random, were asked to participate. The study population comprised 352 GPs who returned the questionnaire and participated in the prospective registration.

RESULTS: Most of the GPs (94%) were of the opinion that GPs should play a central part in the prevention of HIV; 96% found that their knowledge was sufficient to advise on the prevention of HIV, and 90% thought that the GP should take the initiative to talk about HIV. The median number of consultations dealing with HIV was two during ten working days (range 0-18), and more than half the GPs (56%) had not themselves initiated a conversation concerning the problem.

CONCLUSION: There was discrepancy between the GPs' vision of their role in HIV prevention and the activities in practice. It is recommended that initiatives are taken to strengthen the GPs' role in AIDS prevention.