Predictors of poor knowledge, attitude, and practice among primary care physicians toward end-of-life care

Abstract

BackgroundThe prevalence of multiple chronic conditions in elderly people rises recently. Establishing comprehensive end-of-life (EOL) care to improve their quality of life and avoid any unnecessary suffering is mandatory. Being the first point of contact with the health care system, primary care physicians' knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) toward EOL care is evidently considered.ObjectivesTo assess KAP among primary care physicians and the predictors of poor KAP regarding EOL care.AimTo improve the EOL services among primary care physicians.Patients and methodsA cross-sectional study was conducted on randomly selected 300 primary care physicians from the 1st of May to the end of November 2019. The selected participants were interviewed through a semistructured self-administered questionnaire composed of four parts inquiring about their sociodemographic data, KAP level toward EOL care.ResultsThe majority of the studied participants had poor knowledge (94.7%) and practice (96.3%) about EOL care. Only 37.7% of them had a negative attitude. Being female (P = 0.03) and general practitioner (P = 0.02) were the most affecting factors of poor knowledge. General practitioner was the most influencing factor on poor attitude (P = 0.04). There was a positive correlation between knowledge score and attitude score (P < 0.001), and the same with knowledge score and practice score (P < 0.001).ConclusionAlthough more than half of the physicians had positive attitude as regards EOL care, their knowledge and practice levels were poor. Being a female and general practitioner expressed more poor knowledge. Being a general practitioner showed poor attitude, while working in rural areas was the main affecting factor on poor practice.RecommendationEOL care should be integrated in both undergraduate and postgraduate studies.