ABSTRACT
Objective To know the rural doctors' knowledge,belief and practice on iodine deficiency disorders(IDD),as well as their capability on health education communication in Ye County,Henan Province.Methods Semi-structured interviews were conducted among 50 rural doctors in Ye County,Henan Province.Topics covered include:sales of salt purchases,daily supervision and monitoring activities of salt,the health effects of salt,the situation of rural doctors trained,the situation of rural doctors participated in health education and related recommendations.Results ①Twenty-nine of the rural doctors knew exactly the advantage of salt iodization.②Thirty-nine of the rural doctors had taken part in the half quantitative detection of salt once or twice a year and 15 of them knew the supervision activities of salt industry department.③Forty-nine of the rural doctors believed salt iodization was beneficial to health and 48 of them were willing to participate in health education on IDD.④The major ways of their acquiring health knowledge were promotional materials [54.0％ (27/50)],TV [50.0％ (25/50)],and lecture/training [24.0％ (12/50)].⑤Thirty-seven of the rural doctors had taken part in health education on IDD.They were used to use booklets [68.0％ (34/50)],promotional slogan [36.0％ (18/50)],broadcast [24.0％ (12/50)],and doctor consultation [24.0％ (12/50)].⑥Twenty-eight of the rural doctors thought the current health education on IDD was better.They hoped to reduce the price of salt,strengthen supervision,receive more training and health education on IDD.Conclusions The rural doctors remain relatively lack of knowledge on IDD.Rural doctors have the initiative and responsibility to conduct health education on IDD,but their pattern is still a one-way propagation.