The Vivian L. Smith Department of Neurosurgery, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston McGovern Medical School, Houston, Texas.
Facultad de medicina, Universidad Veracruzana, Veracruz, Mexico.
World Neurosurg. 2024 Aug;188:e41-e52. doi: 10.1016/j.wneu.2024.05.001. Epub 2024 May 11.
Most of the scientific and healthcare resources in Mexico are limited to the large major cities. However, many communities with complex socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds have limited access to neurosurgical care. A cross-sectional study aiming to evaluate the population's perception regarding neurosurgical care was conducted.
A nationwide online survey, conducted starting February 2023, assessed public perception of neurosurgical care. Data analysis was performed based on sociodemographic characteristics such as age, socioeconomic status, religion, and education. Pearson's chi-square and odds ratio were employed for statistical comparisons of categorical variables.
A total of 508 participants consented to the survey. Younger participants and higher education levels correlated with greater perceived knowledge about neurosurgery (P = <0.001) and higher confidence in neurosurgical healthcare personnel (P = 0.021 and P = 0.022, respectively). Lower educational levels were prone to perceive neurosurgical care as less safe and effective (P = 0.002) and preferred to seek initial alternative/traditional treatments for neurosurgical issues (P = 0.012). A higher income level was associated with a preference for private healthcare over public services P = <0.001). Odds ratio analysis corroborated these findings. Healthcare personnel emerged as the most common source of information for neurosurgical diseases (71.4%).
Our findings suggest that sociodemographic factors such as age, education, and income correlate with the population's self-perceived knowledge, trust and beliefs about safety and effectiveness regarding neurosurgical care in Mexico. These findings can be instrumental for developing healthcare policies that address the needs of Mexico's patient population.
墨西哥大部分的科学和医疗资源都集中在大城市。然而，许多具有复杂社会经济和文化背景的社区获得神经外科护理的机会有限。本研究旨在评估公众对神经外科护理的认知。
本研究是一项全国性的在线调查，于 2023 年 2 月开始进行，评估公众对神经外科护理的认知。数据分析基于年龄、社会经济地位、宗教和教育等社会人口学特征进行。采用 Pearson 卡方检验和优势比比较分类变量。
共有 508 名参与者同意参加调查。年轻参与者和较高的教育水平与对神经外科的更高认知度相关（P<0.001）和对神经外科医护人员的更高信心（P=0.021 和 P=0.022）。较低的教育水平倾向于认为神经外科护理不太安全和有效（P=0.002），并且更愿意寻求神经外科问题的初始替代/传统治疗（P=0.012）。较高的收入水平与选择私人医疗保健而不是公共服务相关（P<0.001）。优势比分析证实了这些发现。医护人员是神经外科疾病信息的最常见来源（71.4%）。
我们的研究结果表明，年龄、教育和收入等社会人口学因素与墨西哥人口对神经外科护理的自我认知、信任和对安全性和有效性的信念相关。这些发现可为制定满足墨西哥患者群体需求的医疗保健政策提供参考。
