Evaluation of Knowledge Regarding Rheumatic Fever and Its Prevention among Doctors at a Tertiary Cardiac Care Unit

Abstract

Background: Rheumatic heart disease is one of the most frequent types of acquired heart disease, and it is one of the leading causes of morbidity and death. Awareness of doctors regarding rheumatic fever and how to prevent it is important for primary and secondary prevention. Objective: The study aimed to assess the knowledge of rheumatic fever and its prevention and the association of knowledge with cardiology working experience among local doctors working at a tertiary cardiac care unit. Methodology: It was a cross-sectional study conducted at the department of cardiology of a national institute of cardiovascular disease and its satellite centers, Karachi, Pakistan from December, 2020 to June 2021. Doctors of age more than 25 years of either gender were included in the study. A self-administered questionnaire, circulated through emails was used to collect data on age, gender, designation, total years of experience, and years of experience in the cardiac unit and 10 questions to assess the knowledge regarding rheumatic fever and its prevention. Based on the correct response, the doctors were categorized as either having adequate knowledge or inadequate knowledge regarding various aspects of rheumatic fever. Data was entered and analyzed using SPSS version 21. Results: A total of 225 participants were approached, out of which 200 responded and completed the survey with response rate of 88.9%. The mean age of the doctors was 37.40±6.55 years. Most of the participants were males (87.5%). About 82% of the doctors had adequate knowledge about the mechanism of rheumatic fever. A large proportion of participants answered correctly about prophylaxis post-surgery (58%). Doctors with more than 2 years of experience in the cardiology department had better knowledge about the mechanism (p=0.017), diagnosis (p=0.005), post-surgery prophylaxis (p=0.005), duration of secondary prophylactic treatment (p=0.03), drug of choice for secondary prophylaxis (p=0.026) as compared to doctors with up to 2 years of experience in the cardiology department. Conclusion: Knowledge regarding the duration of secondary prophylaxis and primary prophylaxis was low among doctors. Years of working experience in the cardiology unit was a significant factor in the knowledge of the m

Keywords

• awareness
• post-exposure prophylaxis
• rheumatic fever