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Knowledge, Attitude and Practice towards Osteoporosis among Primary Health Care Physicians in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Received: 3 November 2014     Accepted: 13 November 2014     Published: 27 November 2014
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Abstract

Background: It is generally believed that osteoporosis is the most common metabolic disease affecting bone worldwide and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is not an exception. Awareness among physicians is essential for early detection and timely treatment and hence fractures prevention. Aim: We aimed to assess knowledge, attitude and practices for osteoporosis among Primary Health Care Physicians in Saudi Arabia and to identify its determining factors. Methods: the survey was a cross-sectional survey of physicians of all specialties who are currently working in one of the primary care units in the Kingdom. We used self-administered questionnaire to identify the levels of Knowledge, Attitude and Practice. Means, standard deviations and percentages along with the 95% Confidence Interval were calculated. Results: Responses were obtained from 364 physicians (30% female, 70% male). The majority was resident physicians (81%) and thought that osteoporosis was an important clinical problem. About 84% were unaware of the presence of any clinical guidelines for osteoporosis. A high proportion of respondents believed in the preventive role of physical activity and cessation of smoking. There were good levels of knowledge regarding Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scan as a diagnostic tool and bisphosphonate drug therapy. Conclusions: Gaps in knowledge of physicians about bone health were identified. There is a need to extend medical knowledge regarding the contemporary management of osteoporosis and its risk factors. The results of the Knowledge, Attitude and Practice study could be used to improve physicians’ performance; hence it should be implemented on regular basis as part of the osteoporosis prevention strategy.

Published in Science Journal of Public Health (Volume 2, Issue 6)
DOI 10.11648/j.sjph.20140206.30
Page(s) 624-630
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2014. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Osteoporosis, KAP, PHC, Physician

References
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Mohammed Yehia Saeedi, Fahd Al-Amri, Ashry Mohamed, Ahmed Khair Ibrahim. (2014). Knowledge, Attitude and Practice towards Osteoporosis among Primary Health Care Physicians in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Science Journal of Public Health, 2(6), 624-630. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20140206.30

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    ACS Style

    Mohammed Yehia Saeedi; Fahd Al-Amri; Ashry Mohamed; Ahmed Khair Ibrahim. Knowledge, Attitude and Practice towards Osteoporosis among Primary Health Care Physicians in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Sci. J. Public Health 2014, 2(6), 624-630. doi: 10.11648/j.sjph.20140206.30

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    AMA Style

    Mohammed Yehia Saeedi, Fahd Al-Amri, Ashry Mohamed, Ahmed Khair Ibrahim. Knowledge, Attitude and Practice towards Osteoporosis among Primary Health Care Physicians in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Sci J Public Health. 2014;2(6):624-630. doi: 10.11648/j.sjph.20140206.30

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  • @article{10.11648/j.sjph.20140206.30,
      author = {Mohammed Yehia Saeedi and Fahd Al-Amri and Ashry Mohamed and Ahmed Khair Ibrahim},
      title = {Knowledge, Attitude and Practice towards Osteoporosis among Primary Health Care Physicians in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia},
      journal = {Science Journal of Public Health},
      volume = {2},
      number = {6},
      pages = {624-630},
      doi = {10.11648/j.sjph.20140206.30},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20140206.30},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.sjph.20140206.30},
      abstract = {Background: It is generally believed that osteoporosis is the most common metabolic disease affecting bone worldwide and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is not an exception. Awareness among physicians is essential for early detection and timely treatment and hence fractures prevention. Aim: We aimed to assess knowledge, attitude and practices for osteoporosis among Primary Health Care Physicians in Saudi Arabia and to identify its determining factors. Methods: the survey was a cross-sectional survey of physicians of all specialties who are currently working in one of the primary care units in the Kingdom. We used self-administered questionnaire to identify the levels of Knowledge, Attitude and Practice. Means, standard deviations and percentages along with the 95% Confidence Interval were calculated. Results: Responses were obtained from 364 physicians (30% female, 70% male). The majority was resident physicians (81%) and thought that osteoporosis was an important clinical problem. About 84% were unaware of the presence of any clinical guidelines for osteoporosis. A high proportion of respondents believed in the preventive role of physical activity and cessation of smoking. There were good levels of knowledge regarding Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scan as a diagnostic tool and bisphosphonate drug therapy. Conclusions: Gaps in knowledge of physicians about bone health were identified. There is a need to extend medical knowledge regarding the contemporary management of osteoporosis and its risk factors. The results of the Knowledge, Attitude and Practice study could be used to improve physicians’ performance; hence it should be implemented on regular basis as part of the osteoporosis prevention strategy.},
     year = {2014}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Knowledge, Attitude and Practice towards Osteoporosis among Primary Health Care Physicians in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
    AU  - Mohammed Yehia Saeedi
    AU  - Fahd Al-Amri
    AU  - Ashry Mohamed
    AU  - Ahmed Khair Ibrahim
    Y1  - 2014/11/27
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    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20140206.30
    DO  - 10.11648/j.sjph.20140206.30
    T2  - Science Journal of Public Health
    JF  - Science Journal of Public Health
    JO  - Science Journal of Public Health
    SP  - 624
    EP  - 630
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2328-7950
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20140206.30
    AB  - Background: It is generally believed that osteoporosis is the most common metabolic disease affecting bone worldwide and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is not an exception. Awareness among physicians is essential for early detection and timely treatment and hence fractures prevention. Aim: We aimed to assess knowledge, attitude and practices for osteoporosis among Primary Health Care Physicians in Saudi Arabia and to identify its determining factors. Methods: the survey was a cross-sectional survey of physicians of all specialties who are currently working in one of the primary care units in the Kingdom. We used self-administered questionnaire to identify the levels of Knowledge, Attitude and Practice. Means, standard deviations and percentages along with the 95% Confidence Interval were calculated. Results: Responses were obtained from 364 physicians (30% female, 70% male). The majority was resident physicians (81%) and thought that osteoporosis was an important clinical problem. About 84% were unaware of the presence of any clinical guidelines for osteoporosis. A high proportion of respondents believed in the preventive role of physical activity and cessation of smoking. There were good levels of knowledge regarding Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scan as a diagnostic tool and bisphosphonate drug therapy. Conclusions: Gaps in knowledge of physicians about bone health were identified. There is a need to extend medical knowledge regarding the contemporary management of osteoporosis and its risk factors. The results of the Knowledge, Attitude and Practice study could be used to improve physicians’ performance; hence it should be implemented on regular basis as part of the osteoporosis prevention strategy.
    VL  - 2
    IS  - 6
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Ministry of Health, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Non-communicable Disease Directorate, Riyadh, KSA

  • Ministry of Health, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Non-communicable Disease Directorate, Riyadh, KSA

  • Family and Community Medicine Department, Medical School, King Saud University, Riyadh, KSA

  • Public Health, Community Medicine School, Faculty of Medicine, Assiut University, Asyut, Egypt

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