Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Clinical Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Isra University, Amman, Jordan.
Front Public Health. 2021 Aug 31;9:712255. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2021.712255. eCollection 2021.
Asthma is a chronic non-communicable disease that causes significant morbidity and mortality and requires ongoing clinical care. Appropriate knowledge by physicians is vital in the management of asthma. Therefore, this study aims to explore and identify the gaps in physicians' knowledge and practices concerning the management of asthma. A cross-sectional study using an online survey was conducted in Jordan to understand the gap in knowledge and practices in the management of asthma among physicians. A previously validated questionnaire was employed, the Physicians' Practice Assessment Questionnaire (PPAQ). The knowledge questions based on the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) guidelines were used to assess knowledge and practice among the study's participants. Predictors of good practice were identified using logistic regression. A total of 271 physicians participated in this survey. The overall knowledge among physicians scored above 78%. However, gaps were pertinent to identifying the signs of asthma attacks that accounted for 61.9% of the participants, whereas only 67.6% of the physicians knew the drugs used for the management of asthma. The study revealed alarming results when practices were assessed, with the overall percentage of physicians applying the required practices did not exceed 57.1 ± 25.7%. Logistic regression analysis to determine predictors of good practice showed that out of several independent variables, physicians who see 6-10 asthma patients per day are five times more likely to follow the guidelines' recommendations in their practice; senior physicians (>50 years old) and those who see 1-5 asthma patients daily are around two times more likely to follow the guidelines ( 0.001). The findings of this study identified the need to transform knowledge into practice. This could be achieved through professional education and constant reminders to physicians in a simple form, as well as a clinical audit of practice. There is a need for novel knowledge transfer approaches to induce behavioral and practice change toward the management of asthma.
哮喘是一种慢性非传染性疾病，会导致较高的发病率和死亡率，需要持续的临床护理。医生具备适当的知识对于哮喘的管理至关重要。因此，本研究旨在探讨和确定医生在哮喘管理方面的知识和实践方面的差距。本研究在约旦采用横断面研究设计，通过在线调查的方式，了解医生在哮喘管理方面的知识和实践差距。使用先前验证过的问卷，即医生实践评估问卷（PPAQ）。根据全球哮喘倡议（GINA）指南设计的知识问题，用于评估研究参与者的知识和实践。使用逻辑回归确定良好实践的预测因素。共有 271 名医生参与了这项调查。医生的整体知识得分高于 78%。然而，在识别哮喘发作的迹象方面存在差距，有 61.9%的参与者能够识别哮喘发作的迹象，而只有 67.6%的医生知道用于管理哮喘的药物。评估实践时，研究结果令人震惊，只有不到 57.1±25.7%的医生总体上应用了所需的实践。为了确定良好实践的预测因素，进行了逻辑回归分析，结果表明，在几个独立变量中，每天看 6-10 名哮喘患者的医生遵循指南建议的可能性是每天看 1-5 名哮喘患者的医生的五倍；年龄较大的医生（>50 岁）和每天看 1-5 名哮喘患者的医生遵循指南的可能性是每天看 1-5 名哮喘患者的医生的两倍左右（<0.001）。本研究的结果表明，需要将知识转化为实践。这可以通过专业教育和以简单的形式不断提醒医生来实现，还可以对实践进行临床审核。需要新的知识转移方法来诱导针对哮喘管理的行为和实践改变。
