Assessment of knowledge, attitude and practice of physicians working in Governmental and Private Hospitals and Primary Health Care Centers toward notification of infectious diseases, Governorate of Dhofar, Sultanate of Oman.
Notification is necessary for identification and prevention of the spread of infectious disease. Its success depends on the knowledge, practice and motivation of doctors. Periodic evaluation of doctors' attitude and practice toward notification of infectious diseases and a study of the difficulties that may face them in notification or during conduct control measures are essential to maintain effective notification system. This study was conducted through September 2006 to assess knowledge, attitude and practice of the physicians working in Governorate of Dhofar (Oman) toward notification system for infectious diseases and to identify the difficulties that may face them in this regard.
Methodology
We conducted cross-sectional study among the physicians working in governmental and private health sector in governorate of Dhofar (Sultanate of Oman). Self-administered questionnaires were sent to every doctor in the governorate. Out of 296 the total number of doctors working in governorate of Dhofar we received 203 filled questionnaires, which represented 203 doctors, who are included in our study. The collected data was entered in the computer using Epi Info version3.3.2 software then it was analyzed to respond to the objectives of the study.
Results
Among participating physicians 77.3% were General practitioners and 22.7% were specialists. Regarding their knowledge toward notification of infectious diseases in Oman, 10.8% scored knowledge level of 80% and above. The study showed significant association between knowledge level and the length of work period in Oman (P = 0.013). Only 9.4% of participants always received feedback on reported cases, while 39.4% never received any feedback. Among participating physicians 12.3% attended short courses or workshop in surveillance, the rest (87.7%) did not attend any kind of surveillance activities.
Conclusion
The study revealed a poor knowledge among participating physicians toward the notifiable diseases in Sultanate of Oman. Along with that the study showed a poor feedback on reported cases and significant lack of surveillance training among doctors working in Governorate of Dhofar.