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Multicenter Study
. 2018 Dec 20;18(1):987.
doi: 10.1186/s12913-018-3792-4.

A cross-sectional survey of the knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding tuberculosis among general practitioners working in municipalities with and without asylum centres in eastern Norway

Oddvar Aadnanes  1   2 , Selina Wallis  3 , Ingunn Harstad  4   5
Affiliations
Multicenter Study

A cross-sectional survey of the knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding tuberculosis among general practitioners working in municipalities with and without asylum centres in eastern Norway

Oddvar Aadnanes et al. BMC Health Serv Res. .

Abstract

Background: The number of tuberculosis (TB) cases in Norway is increasing due to immigration from countries with high TB prevalence and few studies have been conducted on general practitioners' (GPs) knowledge of TB in low incidence countries. The main purpose of this study was to explore knowledge, attitudes and practices of TB among Norwegian GPs using a modified Knowledge Attitude Practice (KAP) survey template.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey of 30 questions was distributed by email using SurveyMonkey to GPs working in municipalities either with or without an asylum reception centre in Eastern Norway (GPwAS or GPw/oAS). The questionnaire assessed demographic data and had 14 questions on TB knowledge and 7 questions on attitudes and practices. Descriptive and inferential analysis of the data was carried out using SPSS 18.

Results: One hundred ninety five GPs responded and 42% worked in a municipality with an asylum reception centre. There was no significant difference between the two GP groups in relation to demographic variables (all p-values > 0.2). GPwAS were more experienced in diagnosing TB patients compared to GPw/oAS (63.4% vs 44.2%, p = 0.008). There was no significant differences in participation in TB training between the two groups (8.5% vs 7.6%, p = 0.71). The majority of GPs (69%) did not consider TB as a major public health threat and misconceptions of TB epidemiology were identified. Overall, 97 (49.7%) GPs had good TB knowledge level and good TB knowledge level was associated with experience in diagnosing TB patients (p = 0.001) and recent TB training (p = 0.015).

Conclusion: Gaps in TB knowledge and awareness among GPs in Norway need to be addressed if GPs are to be more involved in TB management and prevention in the future. TB training had an effect on the GPs knowledge level and GPwAS had more experience with TB patients but our survey revealed no major differences in KAP between GPwAS and GPw/oAS.

Keywords: Knowledge, attitudes and practice (KAP); Norway; Physicians; Tuberculosis (TB).

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Conflict of interest statement

Author’s information

Oddvar Aadnanes is a general practitioner from Norway who became more aware of the global TB challenge through his clinical experience in Mongolia and Uzbekistan.

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Ethical approval was received from the University of Liverpool. The Regional Committee for Medical Research Ethics of Southern Norway (REC) considered the study to be outside the remit of the Health Research Act and therefore the study could be implemented without approval of REC. Information about the study and informed consent was provided in writing before the participants were able to access the online survey questionnaire. Confidentiality and anonymity were maintained through the settings of the online survey.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Distribution of correct answers on questions related to TB knowledge
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Distribution of answers related to classical symptoms of active pulmonary TB
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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