Doctors in the Jamaican Yellow Pages [abstract]

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To determine the characteristics of listings under the "Physicians and Surgeons" section of the Jamaican telephone directory Yellow Pages. METHODS: A review of the Greater Kingston Telephone Directories published by Cable and Wireless Jamaica Ltd for the period 1994/95 to 1999/00 was made. The section captioned "Physicians and Surgeons" in the National Yellow Pages of each of the five directories was used to obtain the following a count of all listings and the font type (case, colour and emphasis) of each listing. Where listings were advertisements, than a structured content analysis was done to guage informativeness. RESULTS: For the five-year period of review, the mean number of listings was 244 (Standard Deviation (SD) = 24). There was a steady increase in the number of listings between 1994/95 (n = 219) and 1999/00 (n = 278). The proportion of listings that were in bold uppercase black font was fairly consistent throughout the period (mean of 32 percent). However, listings in bold uppercase red font showed an increase from 0.5 percent in 1994/95 to 2.5 percent in 1996/97, thereafter remaining close to this level. Listings qualifying as advertisements increased from 1.36 percent at the start of the period to 2.5 percent at the end. Consistent with this increase was an increase in total space occupied by advertisements and the diversity of colours and informational content. The majority of advertisements were by medical centres, of which dermatology services were the most frequent and consistent. The most informative advertisement over the period was by and individual physician. CONCLUSIONS: There has been an increase in listings in the "Physicians and Surgeons" section of the Jamaican National Yellow Pages over the five-year period of the study with an apparent trend towards more visible and sophisticated promotion services. (AU)