Knowledge and practices of doctors at the National Hospital of Sri Lanka on screening and management of alcohol misuse among patients
<p><strong>Introduction </strong>Problems related to alcohol misuse in Sri Lanka are on the rise. Early screening and structured interventions by doctors have been shown to make a significant diminution in alcohol misuse among patients.</p> <p><strong>Objectives &...
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College of Community Physicians of Sri Lanka,
2012-11-01T00:00:00Z.
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| Summary: | <p><strong>Introduction </strong>Problems related to alcohol misuse in Sri Lanka are on the rise. Early screening and structured interventions by doctors have been shown to make a significant diminution in alcohol misuse among patients.</p> <p><strong>Objectives </strong>This study aimed to assess the knowledge and practices of doctors at the National Hospital of Sri Lanka on screening and management of alcohol misuse among patients.</p> <p><strong>Methods </strong>This was a hospital based descriptive cross-sectional study. Doctors (n=385) of all designations attached to wards where patients with alcohol related problems are admitted, were assessed using a self-administered questionnaire. Factors associated with practices were assessed using cross tabulations and χ2 statistic.</p> <p><strong>Results </strong>Response rate was high (91.4%). Respondents were mainly males (63.6%; n=224) in the age group of 25-34 years (48.0%; n=169). A majority were in the category of "medical officers" (39.4%; n=139) attached to general medicine or surgery units (49.7%; n=175) with work experience of <10 years (68.2%; n=240). A weighted score was developed for overall knowledge on screening and management. The proportion of doctors with "Good" overall knowledge was high (75.9%; n=267). However, only 53.4% (n=188) were aware of available standard screening tools. The majority (93.5%; n=329) of doctors were inquiring into alcohol habits of male patients during their routine practice. However, those utilizing standard screening tools to determine alcohol misuse was low (22.8%; n=75). Though the proportion of doctors who took steps to reduce misuse was high (80.3%; n=283), the steps that would achieve sustainable reduction were taken by only 45.9 %( n=130). "Good" overall knowledge (p<0.001), working in a medical unit (p<0.001), work experience <10 years (p<0.001), were associated with "always inquiring" into alcohol habits in routine practice while "Good" overall knowledge (p<0.001), being a house officer (p<0.001) and work experience <10 years (p<0.001) were associated with taking steps to reduce misuse.</p> <p><strong>Conclusion and Recommendations </strong>Overall knowledge was found to be "Good". Gaps in practice of screening and management were evident, which need to be corrected.</p> <p>DOI: <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.4038/jccpsl.v15i1.4936">http://dx.doi.org/10.4038/jccpsl.v15i1.4936</a></p> <p>Journal of the College of Community Physicians of Sri Lanka Vol.15(1) May 2010 24-32</p> |
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| Item Description: | 1391-3174 2579-1451 10.4038/jccpsl.v15i1.4936 |