KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDES, AND PRACTICES OF PRIMARY HEALTH CARE PHYSICIANS REGARDING PRE-TRAVEL COUNSELLING FOR PATIENTS WITH TYPE 2 DIABETES IN TAIF, SAUDI ARABIA, 2022
| Main Author: | Rahaf M. Alslaqi, Mohammed Alzaydi |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article Journal |
| Terbitan: |
, 2022
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| Online Access: |
https://zenodo.org/record/6467607 |
Daftar Isi:
- Introduction: Travelers with diabetes mellitus can encounter challenges during their travels, particularly during international travels that crosses multiple time zones. Scheduling an appointment with a diabetes healthcare physician is a crucial step to ensure that diabetes is adequately controlled amidst challenges that may arise during the departure, travel and arrival phases of the travel. Aims: To evaluate the knowledge, attitudes and practices of primary health care physicians in Taif city, Saudi Arabia regarding pre-travel counselling fo patients with diabetes Methodology: This cross-sectional study was conducted among all primary health care physicians (150) who work in PHC centers in Taif city. The physicians who were contacted through social media or by personally visiting the PHC centers. The first section of the questionnaire contains demographic characteristics, the second section assesses the physicians’ knowledge about pre-travel counselling, the third section assesses the attitudes towards pre-travel counselling and the fourth section assesses the practices of physicians regarding pre-travel counselling. Chi-squre test was used to compare the knowledge status of the physicians, while Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests were used to compare the attitude scores of the physicians. P - value ≤ 0.05 will be considered as significant. Results: The study included 79 (52.7%) resident doctors, 51 (34%) general practitioners, 13 (8.7%) registrars and 7 (4.7%) consultants. 38% of primary healthcare physicians were considered to have good knowledge about pre-travel counselling, while 62% of them were considered to have poor knowledge. The following characteristics have statistically significant association with the knowledge of pre-travel counselling: age, degree of education, and years of practice. The mean attitude score of the participants was 23 ± 4.0 points (out of 30 points). The time needed to complete pre-travel counselling about diabetes was 5 to 15 minutes in 40.0% of cases, and less than 5 minutes in 30% of cases. 61.3% said that they are aware of travel safety recommendations for patients with diabetes, however, only 25.5% feel confident about how to adjust insulin dose for patients who travel across several time zones. Conclusion: The primary healthcare physicians should be encouraged to participate in events related to diabetes management during international travels. The government efforts should seek raising community awareness of diabetic patients to seek pre-travel consultations at primary healthcare levels via established centers and travel medicine clinics.