Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of physicians in the field of diabetes and its complications; A pilot study

Abstract

Introduction: Despite the high worldwide prevalence of diabetes, there is not accurate information of knowledge, attitude and practice of physicians in this case in our country. This pilot study was designed to answer this question.
Methods: This study was performed in collaboration with 69 physicians with various specialties. Research instrument was a questionnaire that consist some questions on four discrete areas: demographic information, knowledge, attitude and practice in the field of diabetes and its complications. Statistical method was descriptive analyzing test.
Results: In 29 percent of all physicians, the knowledge of diabetes was enough. A negative linear relationship was found between total score on knowledge and specialized degree or increased years of practice; while relation was significant only for increasing years of practice. A negative linear relationship was also found between attitude and becoming more specialized degree and increasing years of practice, without statistically significant difference. About 36.2 percent of all physicians had a good clinical practice and majority of them (50 percent) were general physicians. A negative significant linear relationship was found between practice scores and specialized professional degree or increasing years of practice. Also, a positive significant linear relationship was observed between knowledge score and attitude (r = 0.54), knowledge score and practice (r = 0.47), and attitude score and practice (r = 0.48).
Conclusion: The knowledge, attitude, and practice of our physicians were not suitable in the field of treatment and control of diabetes and its complications. Holding continuing education programs with continuous surveillance is essential to improve knowledge, attitude and practice of physicians.