ATTRACT

ATTRACT is a Q&A service for Primary Care in Wales. It started in 1997/8 and is responsible for my interest in information support for clinicians. When I came to post as 'Clinical Effectiveness Co-ordinator' at Gwent Health Authority I was given the task of supporting clinical effectiveness in the county. At the time most similar organisations sent GPs on searching skills training and critical appraisal. After visiting around 75% of practices in Gwent it dawned on me this approach had significant problems. The overwhelming message was - answer our questions for us! ATTRACT was born. For historical interest ATTRACT was an acronym for Ask Trip To Rapidly Alleviate Confused Thoughts! Again, another piece of history - TRIP was a last minute idea for a name - it was going to be GEM (Gwent Effectiveness Matters).

I'm mentioning ATTRACT as it will shortly be gaining a new website in a week or so and as such I thought I'd look at the top ten most frequently viewed papers from the current website - one that was introduced around 2001/2. Here it is:

1. What are the risks of flying while pregnant?
2. Should you treat a low Ferritin (<10)>
3. What is the evidence for the recent press about statins and grapefruit juice being harmful?
4. Is there any difference between processed juice and fresh juice?
5. What is Epley’s manoeuvre for the treatment of benign vertigo?
6. What is the best treatment for pompholyx (dyshidrotic eczema, vesicular palmoplantar eczema) of the feet?
7. What is the cause of a black tongue? No hairs present. The tongue is not painful. Swabs are negative.
8. What is the best treatment for benign positional vertigo (BPV?What treatments are available for sebaceous hyperplasia?
9. Is it safe too fly during the first trimester of pregnancy? What are the risks, if any, associated with it?
10. Many of our patients have isolated raised gamma glutamyl transferase. Often these patients are on statins. How should such patients be evaluated?

The numbers are pretty staggering, the most popular question has been viewed 38,853 times and the 10th most popular was viewed 14,890 times.

The current website has seen massive traffic over the years, it deserves a peaceful retirement!