Introduction
The notifiable diseases surveillance system essential for case detection and public health interventions, estimates the impact of notifiable diseases, portrays the natural history of notifiable diseases, determines the distribution and spread of notifiable diseases, facilitates the detection of outbreaks. The importance of the surveillance of notifiable disease is currently assumed as greater because of emerging and reemerging infectious diseases.
Methodology
The study was conducted as a cross-sectional study using a self-administered questionnaire to assess the knowledge and practice, regarding the surveillance of notifiable diseases, of physicians working in the emergency departments in hospitals in the city of Al-Qassim. The study will be conducted in all of the nine hospitals operating and providing health care services for the Al-Qassim population in the seven cities of the Al-Qassim Region. The study population included all of the physicians working in the emergency departments.
Results
A total of 81 ER physicians participated in the study, out of 130 ER physicians in the emergency departments. The response rate was 62.31% of the participating ER physicians working in the emergency department from 9 hospitals in Al-Qassim. Of the total participants, 70 (84.1%) were general practitioners and 13 (14.4%) were specialists. A majority of the participating physicians, 73 (94.8%), agree about the importance of reporting notifiable diseases. A majority of the participating physicians, 79 (97%), do not attend any training courses When asked about the type of difficulties that the physicians experienced in notifying on notifiable diseases, 30 (37%) agree that there is a lack of sufficient time for recording the information due to an overload of patients and 24 (29%) experience difficulty because public health inspectors are not available. Regarding the feedback system: 44 (54%) of the participating physicians claim that they never receive feedback from the directorate, 64 (79%) ER physicians was classified as satisfactory good knowledge in the component surveillance of notifiable diseases. When the knowledge component surveillance of notifiable disease was compared between genders, 82% of the male ER physicians had satisfactory good knowledge as compared to 73% of the females, but the difference was statistically not significant (P = 0.176). for knowledge the appropriate time for notification, o10 (12%) ER physicians was classified as satisfactory knowledge and a majority, 71 (87%), as unsatisfactory poor knowledge. When knowledge for the appropriate time for the notification of communicable disease was compared between genders, 19% of the male ER physicians had satisfactory good knowledge as compared to 0% of the females, but the difference was statistically significant (P =0.00340).
Conclusion
In conclusion, despite majority physicians being aware of the importance that disease notification is essential in notifying of infectious diseases, there is clearly a lack of knowledge regarding notifiable diseases, which can affect the diseases that should be reported immediately. The lack of time and patient load are important reasons for the ER physician not reporting a disease. There is also a lack of motivation because of poor feedback on reported cases.