ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: This study was aiming to assess factors influencing the contribution of primary healthcare physicians concerning prevention of type 2 diabetes in the Jazan region, south of Saudi Arabia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted to assess physicians' knowledge about evidence-based guidelines concerning diabetes prevention, their attitude towards lifestyle interventions and their practice concerning screening and provision of lifestyle interventions in their clinics. Interviews were conducted to complete a semi-structured questionnaire. Data analysis involved reviewing open-ended responses of physicians followed by quantitative analysis to assess level of knowledge, attitudes, and practice adherence. RESULTS: A total of 234 physicians from 127 primary healthcare centres (PHCs) in the region were recruited. Knowledge of evidence-based clinical indicators for the prevention of diabetes was limited (mean level of knowledge 3.14/8 [SD: 1.2)]. Recruited physicians did have a positive overall attitude to the influence of lifestyle/behavioural therapy on the prevention of type 2 diabetes. The physicians narrated a variety of factors that might influence the effectiveness of this approach, which were related to the community, the patients and the physicians themselves. Only the association between gender of physicians and their levels of knowledge was statistically significant where odds of greater knowledge were higher among female physicians in comparison to males (odds ratio : 1.8, P value = 0.025). CONCLUSION: Most of the physicians in our sample were misinformed about the components of lifestyle/behavioural interventions for diabetes prevention, which mandates designing and implementing lifestyle medicine programmes for the PHC physicians in Jazan region.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: One of the factors that may influence patient adherence to a healthy lifestyle is the adherence of their treating physicians to a healthy lifestyle. This study aimed to measure the lifestyles of primary healthcare center (PHCs) physicians in the Jazan region and to identify the prevalence of diabetes, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and obesity among this sample of physicians. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted in the Jazan region which lies in the southwest of Saudi Arabia. Data were collected via a questionnaire completed during personal interviews. The questionnaire included several components related to physicians' demographics, lifestyles, and history of chronic non-communicable diseases. Descriptive statistics were performed to summarize the overall lifestyle of the physicians and disease prevalence. RESULTS: A total of 234 physicians agreed to participate in this investigation. The age of the participants varied between 25 and 65 years, with a median age of 38. Almost 70% of the physicians reported BMI levels higher than 25, indicating a high prevalence of overweight and obesity. Twenty-seven physicians reported no engagement in any type of exercise while the majority reported engagement with low-intensity exercise. While 56% reported daily consumption of vegetables, only 41.8% of them reported daily consumption of fruits. The prevalence of hypertension, diabetes, and dyslipidemia was 10.3%, 8.5%, and 3.4%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Poor lifestyle choices of the physicians may indicate limited engagement of the physicians in providing effective lifestyle counseling to patients visiting their clinics in PHC settings of the studied community.
