Hospital Queen Elizabeth, Department of Dermatology, Sabah, Malaysia.
Hospital Queen Elizabeth, Clinical Research Centre, Sabah, Malaysia.
Med J Malaysia. 2023 Sep;78(5):574-582.
Global actions have been implemented worldwide to eliminate leprosy. However, under-recognition and stigmatisation continue to be the challenges. In Sabah, the grade two disability rate was 0.15/100,000 population in 2019, implicating a significant delay in diagnosis. This study aimed to assess the knowledge and attitude towards leprosy and the impact of lecture intervention among doctors in Sabah and Labuan, Malaysia.
This study consists of two parts. First, a cross-sectional study on the knowledge of and attitude towards leprosy using an online quesitonnaire was conducted among doctors working in the primary care clinics and hospitals in Sabah and Labuan. Subsequently, the participants were asked to watched an online prerecorded video lecture on leprosy and to answered the same questionnaire.
Of the 310 participants, one fifth (20.6%) had good knowledge and 36.5% had positive attitude towards leprosy. Being a specialist (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 4.55, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.17-9.57, p < 0.001), managed ≥ 5 leprosy cases (aOR 3.37, 95% CI 1.52-7.47, p = 0.003), and involved in educational activities related to leprosy within last year (aOR 4.7, 95% CI 1.69-13.04, p < 0.001) were the significant predictors of good knowledge. Working in tertiary care was significantly associated with good attitude towards leprosy (OR 2.19, 95% CI 1.22-3.94, p = 0.025). There was a significant improvement in participants' knowledge post-intervention (87.0% participants post-lecture vs 20.6% participants pre-lecture with good knowledge, p < 0.001).
The proportion of doctors in Sabah and Labuan with good knowledge and attitude towards leprosy was low. Knowledge of leprosy improved significantly postintervention. This highlights the need for educational and training programmes to improve doctors' knowledge of leprosy.
全球已采取行动以消除麻风病。然而，漏诊和污名化问题仍然存在。在沙巴，2019 年二级残疾率为每 10 万人中有 0.15 人，表明诊断存在显著延迟。本研究旨在评估沙巴和纳闽的医生对麻风病的认知和态度，以及讲座干预的影响。
本研究由两部分组成。首先，在沙巴和纳闽的初级保健诊所和医院工作的医生中进行了一项关于麻风病知识和态度的横断面研究，采用在线问卷调查。随后，要求参与者观看麻风病的在线预先录制视频讲座，并回答相同的问卷。
在 310 名参与者中，五分之一（20.6%）对麻风病有较好的了解，36.5%对麻风病有积极的态度。作为专科医生（调整后的优势比[OR] 4.55，95%置信区间[CI] 2.17-9.57，p < 0.001）、管理≥5 例麻风病病例（OR 3.37，95%CI 1.52-7.47，p = 0.003）和过去一年参与与麻风病相关的教育活动（OR 4.7，95%CI 1.69-13.04，p < 0.001）是良好知识的显著预测因素。在三级保健机构工作与对麻风病的良好态度显著相关（OR 2.19，95%CI 1.22-3.94，p = 0.025）。参与者的知识在干预后有显著提高（讲座后 87.0%的参与者与讲座前 20.6%的参与者具有良好的知识，p < 0.001）。
沙巴和纳闽的医生对麻风病的了解和态度较差。麻风病知识在干预后显著提高。这突出表明需要开展教育和培训计划，以提高医生对麻风病的了解。
