Knowledge, Attitude, Behaviour and Decisions/Outcomes of the Surgical and Non Surgical Faculty Members

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Background: Evidence-based practice the clinical decision-making process which integrates the best evidence of research with patients’ values and opinions of clinical professionals. The faculty members are the most important decision-makers in clinical, medical, and therapeutic centers, and play a significant role in the use of evidence-based medical concepts in daily activities, decision making and information transfer to residents. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the knowledge, attitudes,behaviour and decisions/outcomes of faculty members in the Surgical and Non Surgical wards of Imam Hossein Hospital, based on the evidence based practice adjusted tool (KABQ) in 2016. Methods: This is a cross-sectional descriptive study using the convenient sampling method among 66 faculty members in the Surgical and Non Surgical departments of Imam Hossein Hospital in Tehran. Anadjusted evidence based practice questionnaire(KABQ) was used after the approval of its original designer (Dr. Johnston) and checking its reliability by calculating the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient to be 0.85. SPSS software version 23 was used for data analysis. The variables were analyzed using descriptive statistics and T-test. The statistical significance of all tests was considered at P<0.05. Results: It was found that 93.9% of the subjects believed in their ability to use evidence-based practice. A total of 97% of them made 62.22% of their decisions based on clinical research evidence. The Surgical and Non Surgical groups believed in the effectiveness of evidence-based practice in the proposed treatments with a mean of 5.48 and 6.16, respectively. However, unlike the Non Surgical group, the Surgical group believed that there was similar validity for clinical trialsand observational methods to prove the effictiveness of the treatment. It was necessary for the Surgical and Non Surgical groups to search for clinical evidences 5.76 and 10.16 times a week, respectively. Over 90% of them found clinical evidences through textbook once a week, through the original research papers every 12 days, every 24 days through the Cochrane database, and almost every 28 days through secondary research resources. The Surgical and Non Surgical groups were referred to the evidence 1.95 and 3.27 hours per week, before, or during treatment. They spent 3.47 and 4.97 hours per week searching for evidence, and 4.23 and 7.16 hours per week reading new research evidences, respectively. Over 92% of them considered the use of evidence-based practice because they believed it improved the outcomes for patients. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that both the Surgical and Non Surgical faculty members of Imam Hossein Medical Center (Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences) had good knowledge about evidence-based practice and had a positive attitude toward its medical effect, but they are less likely to use this approach. Thus, to enhance the skills of faculty professionals and adapt their decisions to the best available evidence, a collaborative action plan is required. Keywords: KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE, EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICE