Medical physicians’ awareness about pulmonary hypertension in Egypt

Abstract

Abstract Background The etiological diversity of pulmonary hypertension and its association with other accompanying unrelated symptoms is why this disease may be primarily diagnosed by physicians of different medical specialties. In this study, we sought to evaluate the awareness of physicians regarding pulmonary hypertension across different regions in Egypt and among different medical specialties this is because we believed that pulmonary hypertension disease awareness differed among different specialties. Methodology The survey is conducted from January 2023 to April 2023 targeting certified physicians of different medical specialties in Egypt. A self-administered questionnaire is designed to evaluate and capture information on the awareness of physicians of different medical specialties regarding the diagnosis and management of disease. The questionnaire is offered through an online Google form link, that is made available in two languages English and Arabic for dissemination. Results A total number of 177 physicians of different medical specialties participated in the questionnaire, 97 (54.8%) participants were males, and 80 (45.2%) participants were females with a mean age of 36.88 ± 7.18. Among different medical specialties, 89.4% (n = 76) of the pulmonologists and 91.9% (n = 34) of the cardiologists participating in the survey have satisfactory PH disease knowledge above 75% with a statistically high significant difference of 0.000, in addition, 87.1% (n = 74) of the pulmonologists and 94.6% (n = 35) of the cardiologists have satisfactory PH disease management knowledge above 75% with a statistically significant difference of 0.000. Coincidentally most participants encountering PH patients in their daily clinical practice have satisfactory PH disease knowledge above 75% and satisfactory PH disease management knowledge above 75% with percentages of 84.8% and 82.3% respectively with statistically significant differences of 0.000 and 0.043 respectively. Conclusions Our research highlights the importance of appropriate awareness of the healthcare providers of different medical specialties regarding PH disease essential to abide by the current guidelines in management as well as prioritizing the establishment of geographically available designated expert centers enforcing proper clinical practice. Thus, aiming at reducing the prereferral malpractice noted as the prescription of targeted therapy based on the clinical and imaging assessment only without hemodynamic study.

Keywords

• Pulmonary Hypertension
• Awareness
• Physicians