DefinePK

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Bronchial asthma is a major health problem in Pakistan and there is a substantial variation among General Practitioners in both their knowledge and management practices, including the assessment of severity of asthma, monitoring of the asthmatic patients and the use of proper medications.PURPOSE: This study was carried out to characterize the current knowledge, beliefs, and practices of asthma management among general practitioners at Bahawalpur and its suburbs.METHODS: It was a cross-sectional study involving 109 conveniently selected registered general practitioners in Bahawalpur and its suburbs, carried out from April 2007 to August 2007. The data was collected with the help of a pre tested questionnaire and was analyzed manually.MAIN RESULTS: The male to female ratio among the GPs was 17:1. The mean age of GPs was 46 years and the mean duration of medical practice was about 14 years. Average number of cases of asthma seen by the GPs was more than two per week. Most of the GPs were found to be prescribing only oralBeta2 agonists and/or oral Theophyllines. Only a few of the GPs were found educating their patients about the proper technique of using an inhaler device. Knowledge about childhood asthma was poor.CONCLUSIONS: This study concluded that there is a need for improving the performance of GPs about asthma management.