Knowledge and attitude of primary care doctors towards management of postmenopausal symptoms

According to the current recommendations, women with post-menopausal symptoms should be managed. Knowledge and perception of primary care physicians towards management of postmenopausal symptoms are deficient. The aim of the present study was to explore knowledge and attitude of primary care doctors towards management of postmenopausal symptoms. This study is a cross-sectional survey that was conducted from October to December 2010 in the five health regions in Kuwait. Two centers were selected randomly from each health region. All physicians who were currently working in the selected centers were asked to participate in the study. Out of 209 physicians, 142 agreed to participate and completed a self-administered questionnaire. The study revealed that 82.4% of physicians had moderate knowledge about treatment options for postmenopausal symptoms, 88.0% discussed postmenopausal symptoms with their patients, and 45.1% of them either described or referred their patients for hormonal replacement therapy [HRT]. The correct answers regarding 10 statements related to the Women Health Initiative finding were ranging from 2.8% to 78.9% which indicated low level of knowledge. Regarding the effectiveness of hormonal replacement therapy in post menopausal women, the majority of the physicians agreed correctly that HRT is effective in prevention of osteoporosis [87.3%], treatment of vasomotor symptoms [83.7%], and treatment of vulvo-vaginal symptoms [82.4%]. There was a variation among physicians opinion about the effectiveness of certain treatment options for managing hot flushes in postmenopausal women. The results suggest that there is a lack of primary care physicians knowledge and confidence in recognizing signs and symptoms of menopause and in identifying and prescribing appropriate management

Knowledge and perception of domestic violence among primary care physicians and nurses: a comparative study

Domestic violence [DV] has a deteriorating influence on society by affecting victims, their children, families, and friends, as well as social and financial relationships. Primary care providers, including physicians and nurses, frequently are the first in the community to encounter the battered women. The aim of this work was to compare the knowledge and perception of primary care physicians and nurses about DV. This study was carried out in all primary health care centers in Kuwait. All physicians and nurses who were currently working in these centers during the study period were asked to complete a self-administered close-ended questionnaire that included personal and working conditions information. It included also knowledge about prevalence of DV, and four main aspects relevant to DV, namely deprivation, psychological, physical and sexual domains. A 5-point, Likert-scale was used to assess participant's answers for each item. The response rate was 62.8% for physicians and 61.1% for nurses. The study revealed that the overall knowledge score was higher in physicians than nurses. Also, the scores for the individual domains were significantly higher for physicians than nurses except for psychological one. Overall, primary care physicians and nurses had poor knowledge and many had negative perception regarding DV. Although physicians are somewhat more knowledgeable about DV, many more educational activities are needed