Abstract
BackgroundAlthough sickle cell disease is an important public health problem in Brazil, there is a gap in the literature on the level of knowledge of primary health care professionals about the treatment and management of sickle cell disease. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the level of knowledge about sickle cell disease of physicians and nurses who work in the Family Health Program in a region of Brazil with a high prevalence of this disease.MethodsThis is a descriptive, cross-sectional study conducted at the municipality of Montes Claros, in the north of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Study participants included 96 physicians and nurses who work at the Family Health Program in an urban area of the city. Data was collected using an original, partially tested questionnaire based on health care check points for children with sickle cell disease established in educational protocols from the State Health Secretary of Minas Gerais and the Ministry of Health. The structured questionnaire contained 47 questions addressing three axes: epidemiology (8 questions); clinical manifestations (13 questions); and management of children with sickle cell disease (26 questions). Knowledge was measured through mean correct responses to proposed questions. Ethical principles were respected and this project was approved by the Committee of Ethics in Research.Results59.4% (57) of the study participants were nurses and 40.6% (39) were physicians. The median length of training and median length of service in primary health care were 4.3 (2.8-8.0) years and 4.0 (2.0-7.1) years, respectively. The mean performance in knowledge tests was < 75%, with 5.7/8 (SD = 1.4) for the "epidemiology" questions; 8.6/13 (SD = 2.2) for "clinical manifestations"; and 17.0/26 (SD = 2.9) for "management of children with sickle cell disease" questions; resulting in a mean total of 31.4/47 (SD = 5.10) correct responses. A statistically significant association was found between the number of correct responses and family health care qualifications (p = 0.015).ConclusionThere is an urgent need to improve primary health care professional training in the care of children with sickle cell disease.
Highlights
Sickle cell disease is an important public health problem in Brazil, there is a gap in the literature on the level of knowledge of primary health care professionals about the treatment and management of sickle cell disease
Clinical manifestations of sickle cell disease vary over time, ranging from periods of wellness to the need for emergency care, suggesting hierarchical levels of disease complexity which require complex health care [3]
This study describes the level of knowledge of primary health care workers in Brazil about sickle cell disease
Summary
Sickle cell disease is an important public health problem in Brazil, there is a gap in the literature on the level of knowledge of primary health care professionals about the treatment and management of sickle cell disease. This study aimed to evaluate the level of knowledge about sickle cell disease of physicians and nurses who work in the Family Health Program in a region of Brazil with a high prevalence of this disease. Some authors emphasize that awareness of sickle cell disease, a chronic illness which has an enormous impact on entire families, and health care training in its treatment, should be widely implemented in many health care services [6,7,8]. Even in countries where there is a low prevalence of sickle cell disease, some authors suggest the need for training health care professionals in primary care of this disease [9]. In Brazil, we have some areas with high prevalence of the disease In such areas children with sickle cell disease are more vulnerable than adults. It is necessary to investigate whether doctors and nurses who serve in these areas are adequately trained and prepared to assist these children and their families
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