Assessment of primary health care workers' knowledge and skill for COPD and asthma screening and diagnosis in Jos LGA of Plateau State.

INTRODUCTION

chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma are the commonest of the group of Chronic Respiratory Diseases. Primary Health Care workers play a role in the prevention of these diseases. The aim of this study was to determine the knowledge and diagnostic skills of PHC workers on COPD and asthma in a local government area of Plateau State, Nigeria.

METHODS

it was a cross-sectional study conducted among 146 primary healthcare workers selected through a multistage sampling technique. Data was collected through a self -administered questionnaire. Data processing and analysis were done with Epi-Info epidemiological software. The categories of knowledge that were of interest were scored and graded. A confidence level of 95% was used and a p-value of <0.05 was considered significant for this study.

RESULTS

the mean age of respondents was 41.4 ± 10.1 years, junior community health extension workers made up the largest group and the mean years of service was 14.9 ± 8.9 years. The overall knowledge of COPD and asthma was fair in 68.5 % of health workers though the mean knowledge scores of asthma were statistically significantly higher than that of COPD (p = 0.000). Knowledge was found to be statistically significantly associated with age, sex and cadre. None of the respondents was able to operate a peak flow meter.

CONCLUSION

the study concluded that though there was fair level of knowledge among the respondents on COPD and asthma, they lacked the necessary skills to screen for and diagnose these diseases.