Information needs of family physicians in Nigeria

Abstract

Background : Family medicine is a young academic discipline in Nigeria. This study set out to determine the information needs and seeking behaviour of family physicians, sources used to meet the needs, the roles of public libraries and medical librarians in meeting the needs. Method : A structured, self administered questionnaire which had been previously pre tested and validated were distributed to all the 125 family physicians at the 25th year anniversary of the Faculty of Family Medicine in Nigeria. Result : A total of 94 out of 125 questionnaires were completed and analyzed for the study. Among the respondents, sixty (63.8%) are specialist family physicians. Fifty seven (60.6%) worked with the government specialist teaching hospitals while 17(18.1%) worked with the private hospitals. The information needs were: new developments in area of specialization (87.3%); drug information (74.2%); government regulations on health care (70.2%); and routine patient care (65.9%). The information sources frequently used were: Medical textbooks (85.0%); consultation with colleagues (85.0%); internet medical databases (80.9%) and journals (75.4%). Only 29.8% of the respondents were satisfied with the library services provided to meet their information needs. Conclusion : Family physicians in Nigeria, like their colleagues in other parts of the world, have their peculiar information needs and seeking behavior. Medical librarians as information managers needs to rise up to the challenges of meeting the information needs of these front line doctors in the overall interest of the community and the nation at large.