Saulat Ullah Khan, Saulat Ullah Khan, Masood Ul Haq, Khalid Waheed, Shamshad Rasul, Ghulam Hussain.
Survey of knowledge and attitude of General Practioners for diagnosis and management of bronchial Asthma.
Pak J Chest Med Jan ;8(2):5-8.

Background: Over the last decade, research into the epidemiology, molecular and cellular biology brought improvement in our understanding of mechanisms underlying bronchial asthma. This improved knowledge has resulted in better management options and a better quality of life for asthmatic patients. We planned to assess the knowledge of our doctors in the diagnosis and management of bronchial asthma. Method: 35 doctors gathered to attend one-day conference on chest diseases, volunteered to fill a questionnaire designed to assess the knowledge about diagnosis and managements of asthma. Results: in this survey, 5 out of 35 doctors considered asthma a true heredity disorder, 48.6% were aware of the fact that recurrent paroxysmal cough may be the only symptom of asthma. Only 12 (34.3%) participants considered PEF measurements useful and had a PEF meter in their clinics and 11( 31.4%) were doing it regularly on their asthmatic patients. Twenty one (60%) doctors routinely disclose the diagnosis to their patients while 14 (40%) do it occasionally to avoid unnecessary anxiety (40%), and poor acceptance of patients (14.3%). Twenty (57.1 %) doctors were using antibiotics and 11 (31.4%) were using antihistamine in management of acute exacerbations. Twelve (34.3%) found a definite role of desensitization. 77.1 % doctors preferred the use of prophylactic drug, 16 (45.7%) of them considered ketotifen as drug of choice, 10(28.6%) through inhaled steroid. 4 (11.4%) went for intal and one (2.9%) for theophyllin. Twelve (34.3%) were following any guidelines. Conclusions: There are serious flaws in the knowledge of GPs treating a common disorder, bronchial asthma. As revealed in this study > 75% of participants considered symposia, clinical meetings and round table conferences methods of preference for gaining latest knowledge. There is need to discuss guidelines for management of asthma in such meetings.

PakMediNet -Pakistan's largest Database of Pakistani Medical Journals - http://www.pakmedinet.com