Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Primary Health Care Physicians regarding Cupping (Hijama) in Primary Health Care Centers in Port–Said City

Abstract

Background: Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) encompasses all forms of therapies that fall outside the mainstream of medical practice. Cupping is among known items of alternative medicine assigned by the WHO and highlighted recently. The role of cupping in cure of many known disease was addressed as one of the main methods of treatment in the prophet medicine. Aim: To improve primary health care physicians' quality of care for patients. Objectives: To determine the level of knowledge, attitude, and practice of PHC physicians regarding cupping. Subjects and Methods: It is a cross sectional descriptive study, which was carried out in PHC centers in Port said city. Sixty-one PHC Phs were included in the study. Their knowledge, attitude and practices cupping were assessed. Structured questionnaire was used in the interview with physicians. Obtained data were entered and analyzed using Statistical Package of Social Science (SPSS 20). The appropriate statistical tests were used. Statistical significance was considered at p-value <0.05. Results: The current study showed that a considerable percent (52.5%) of the studied group did not pass knowledge score regarding cupping. About (47.5%) of the studied group have favorable attitude. As regards practices of PHC physicians regarding cupping, it was evident that no one of the studied group practiced cupping before. Conclusion: The current study concluded that the level of knowledge, attitude, and practice of PHC physicians regarding cupping was unsatisfactory. Scientific intervention on cupping to prove its efficacy, safety and quality and more training programs also needed.