General physicians' knowledge of tuberculosis control and treatment with DOTS strategy

Abstract

Purpose: Turberculosis has a long history and it is still fatal in the third millennium. Since 1993, the Directly Observed Therapy Short-Course (DOTS) strategy has been approved by the WHO as a global strategy for tuberculosis treatment and control. This research was undertaken to assess the general physicians' (GPs) knowledge of tuberculosis control and treatment using DOTS strategy and to evaluate the necessity for its insertion in the medical schools' curriculum. Material & Method: 1500 questionnaires were distributed to GPs at national conferences and continuing medical education sessions in tuberculosis and infections diseases. The questionnaires included questions about demographic information, general knowledge about DOTS, implementation of DOTS and problems related to its implementation. All data, were analyzed with an SPSS package, using the Chi-square rest. Findings: Out of the 486 GPs who responded to the questionnaires, 34.5% knew what DOTS stood for, and 43.8% were familiar with the definition of DOTS. In clinical teaching course, 10.2% had become familiar with DOTS in medical schools and 56.6%, through the health care system. 69% of the trained GPs and 14% of the untrained GPs answered the questions correctly. (P=0.001). about 21% of the GPs were involved in the implementation of DOTS. Among the GPS who were involved in implementing DOTS, 82% gave correct answers. From among the GPs who were not involved in implementing DOTS. 33% had correct answers to the questions (P=0.001). Conclusion: According to the results of this research, GPs have little knowledge of GPs strategy. Its entry into the medical curriculum is therefore essential. Key words: DOTS, TUBERCULOSIS CONTROL, GPs ' KNOWLDEDGE