Survey of Patient Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices Regarding ENT Pathologies in a Tertiary Health Care Facility in West Africa

Abstract

The ENT pathologies are not well known to the populations of our developing countries. This lack of knowledge leads certain subjects to have attitudes and practices that favor their occurrence and/or their aggravation. The objective of this study was to assess the knowledge and describe the attitudes and practices of patients facing ENT pathologies at the Conakry Hospital and University Center (CHU). This was a prospective, descriptive study lasting six months (June-November 2018). Among the 1410 patients who had consulted in the department during the study period, 1102 had participated in the survey, or 78.16% of cases. The mean age of the patients was 39.3 ± 17.3 years, predominantly female, for a sex ratio of 0.75. The majority of patients were of university education (41.02%) and civil servants (38.66%) represented the dominant socio-professional layer. Rhino-sinusitis (30.85%) and ear infections (20.14%) were the most common pathologies. Almost a third (32.85%) of respondents had no knowledge of behaviors harmful to ENT health. More than half (52.45%) of the patients did not know of any factors favoring the occurrence of ENT pathologies. The therapeutic orientation had been made towards modern medicine in 63.52% against 4.54% for traditional medicine. The choice of self-medication concerned 31.94% of patients. This survey showed that patients have limited knowledge of ENT pathologies as well as the attitudes and practices likely to favor their occurrence. However, a multicenter study involving a larger proportion of patients will confirm these data.