Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice towards Evidence-Based Medicine among Northern Saudi Primary Care Physicians: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

The evidence-based practice of primary care physicians is essential because they are the first line of contact with the local community, and they cater to most of their communities’ health needs. In the current study, in which we used a cross-sectional survey in northern Saudi Arabia, we assessed primary care physicians’ knowledge, attitude, practice, and barriers regarding evidence-based medicine (EBM). Of the 300 physicians who participated, less than half had high knowledge (43.7%) and attitude (47.7%) toward EBM. The chi-square test revealed that the knowledge categories were significantly associated with the age group (p = 0.002) and EBM training received in the past five years (p < 0.001), and the attitude categories were significantly associated with nationality (p = 0.008). Of the respondents, 155 (51.7%) used EBM in their daily clinical practice. Through logistic regression analysis, we found that the identified predictors of including EBM in clinical practice were the 31–45-year-old age group (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 2.11, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.65–2.73) and EBM training received during last 5 years (AOR = 2.12, 95%CI = 1.35–2.94). We recommend enhancing primary care physicians’ knowledge of EBM and its importance in clinical practice through appropriate training programs. A multi-centric mixed-method survey is warranted in other provinces of the KSA to recognize region-specific training demand.

Assessment of Knowledge, Attitude and Barriers to Practice Regarding Evidence Based Medicine among Doctors in National Liver Institute, Menoufia University, Egypt

“…As regards to the participants' knowledge of different EBM resources, nearly half of the participants (47.3%) knew about EBM from BMJ. This result showed a higher awareness regarding EBM from BMJ than the investigation of Abd AL-Magied et al (12) (Menoufia Governorate, Egypt) and Hassan et al (10) (Benha, Egypt) wherein just 28.6% and 27.3% of respondents, respectively, indicated knowledge of that resource (16,17) but unlikely it was lower than that obtained by Al-Kubaisi et al (20) (Doha, Qatar), Abdel-Kareem et al (9) (Tanta, Egypt) and Dabaghian et al (19) (Iran), in which 69.2%, 60.5% and 60.1%, respectively reported awareness of that resource. Additionally, 11.3% of participants reported they have previously made decisions using EBM from BMJ.…”

“…(19) . However higher results obtained by ALruwaili et al (16) (Saudi Arabia), which revealed that 49% of participants were aware of database of reviews and dissertations. This variance may be due to more than two thirds of the Saudi and non-Saudi participants (61.7%) attended training in EBM while in this study only (37.3%) of the participants attended previous EBM training.…”

“…This is unlike to Alabdullah et al study (Syria) (22) . In contrast to the prevailing neutrality demonstrated by the majority of residents under investigation, Bin Briek et al (30) (Yemen) and ALruwaili et al (16) . (Saudi Arabia) observed clinicians who participated in their studies with suboptimal attitudes toward EBM.…”

“…About two thirds of the participants (64.7% and 62%) disagreed that "their clinic facilities were adequate to support the practice of EBM" and "they have time to practice EBM" respectively. - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------DISCUSSION The necessity for accountability and the public's increasing access to health-associated data make evidence-based practice an essential feature of both clinical practice and essential healthcare delivery (16) . Healthcare delivery depends on knowledge among healthcare providers (17,18) .…”

“…One potential area of distinction between their research and the present one may be the physician inclusion criteria. Our research involved resident physicians, demonstrators, and assistant lecturers, whereas their investigation was limited to primary care physicians (16) . Attitude toward EBM It is essential for the healthcare workers to have a positive attitude, and it was found that better healthcare delivery is associated with positive attitude among healthcare workers (26,27) .…”