Iliyasu Z, Abubakar I S, Kabir M, Abbas S M
Department of Community Medicine, Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano, Nigeria.
Niger J Med. 2005 Apr-Jun;14(2):200-5.
Health care professionals can no longer ignore the application of information technology to health care. This study was carried out to assess computing knowledge, attitude and skills among health care professionals and identify associated factors.
A cross section of 200 health care professionals- consisting of 64 doctors, 90 nurses, 35 laboratory scientists and 11 pharmacists in Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital were interviewed using a pre-tested, structured, closed-ended self-administered questionnaire.
Only 181 (90.5%) of the respondents returned the completed questionnaires. Twenty six percent of the respondents had formal computer training whereas 34.8% owned a personal computer. Overall, 84 (46.4%) of the respondents had good knowledge of computing. Specifically, 41(66.0%), 5 (50.0%), 14 (51.0%) and 24 (30.0%) of these were doctors, pharmacists, laboratory scientists and nurses respectively. Computing knowledge was highest among doctors and lowest among nurses. These differences were statistically significant (chi2 = 19.1 df = 3 P < 0.01). Age, gender, computer ownership and formal computer training significantly influenced computing knowledge. Most healthcare professionals 160 (88.4%) had positive attitude towards computing and this was significantly influenced by respondent's age and previous computer training. Only 41 (22.7%) of the health care professionals had good computing skills and this was significantly associated with computer ownership (P < 0.01) and formal computer training (P < 0.01).
Half of the healthcare professionals had good computing knowledge, majority had a positive attitude while many were quite deficient in computer skills. Computer loans and in-house computing courses were recommended to prepare our healthcare professionals for the challenges of the information technology age.
医疗保健专业人员再也不能忽视信息技术在医疗保健中的应用。本研究旨在评估医疗保健专业人员的计算机知识、态度和技能，并确定相关因素。
采用预先测试的、结构化的、封闭式的自填问卷，对阿明努·卡诺教学医院的200名医疗保健专业人员进行了横断面调查，其中包括64名医生、90名护士、35名实验室科学家和11名药剂师。
只有181名（90.5%）受访者返回了完整的问卷。26%的受访者接受过正规的计算机培训，而34.8%的人拥有个人电脑。总体而言，84名（46.4%）受访者具有良好的计算机知识。具体而言，其中分别有41名（66.0%）医生、5名（50.0%）药剂师、14名（51.0%）实验室科学家和24名（30.0%）护士具有良好的计算机知识。医生的计算机知识最高，护士最低。这些差异具有统计学意义（卡方=19.1，自由度=3，P<0.01）。年龄、性别、计算机拥有情况和正规计算机培训对计算机知识有显著影响。大多数医疗保健专业人员160名（88.4%）对计算机持积极态度，这受到受访者年龄和以前计算机培训的显著影响。只有41名（22.7%）医疗保健专业人员具有良好的计算机技能，这与计算机拥有情况（P<0.01）和正规计算机培训（P<0.01）显著相关。
一半的医疗保健专业人员具有良好的计算机知识，大多数人态度积极，但许多人在计算机技能方面相当欠缺。建议提供计算机贷款和内部计算机课程，以使我们的医疗保健专业人员能够应对信息技术时代的挑战。
