ABSTRACT
Objective:To survey the knowledge levels about diagnosis and management of asthma among general practitioners in community health centers in Shanghai and to analyze influencing factors.Methods:A questionnaire survey was conducted from May to June 2022 among general practitioners from 80 community health care centers in Shanghai. The questionnaire contained the basic information of the responders; knowledge about the diagnosis of asthma (symptoms, diagnostic methods, interpretation of bronchodilation and fractional exhaled nitric oxide, FeNO tests); and treatment of asthma (choosing and usage of therapeutic drugs). Logistic regression was used to analyze.Results:A total 324 general practitioners completed the questionnaire survey. Among them 221 (68.21%) had bachelor degree; 200 (61.73%) were attending doctors; the median working duration was 11 years; 174 (53.70%) had training on asthma knowledge in last 3 years. The survey results showed that 55 (16.98%) responders misinterpreted results of bronchodilation test, and 90(5.86%)misinterpreted results of FeNO test for diagnosis of asthma; 244 responders (75.31%) suspected implication of long-term cough for diagnosis of asthma; 277(85.49%)would order bronchodilation text to suspected patients; 273(84.26%)prescribed inhaled corticosteroid plus long-acting beta-2 agonist to asthma patients. For mild asthma patients, 144 responders(44.44%)suggested to use budesonide formoterol as needed; for moderate to severe asthma, 174(53.70%)suggested to use budesonide formoterol regularly and as needed, 100(30.86%)suggested to use salmeterol fluticasone regularly and salbutamol as needed. Logistic analysis showed that longer working duration was correlated with higher misinterpretation rate of bronchodilation and FeNO tests( OR=0.798,95% CI:0.694-0.918, P=0.002; OR=0.859,95% CI:0.739-0.998, P=0.047). The accuracy rate of all the questions was significantly higher in general practitioners who had training on asthma knowledge than those who didn′t receive training in last 3 years(all P<0.05). Conclusions:Most general practitioners in community health service centers in Shanghai have relatively high levels of knowledge about diagnosis and treatment of asthma. Years of work experience and training experience can affect the levels of asthma knowledge among community general practitioners.