Determining the Awareness of general physicians and pediatricians on primary immunodeficiency disease(PID) in the city of Ahvaz (Southwest of Iran)

[摘要] Introduction: Primary immunodeficiencies (PID) are a group of heterogeneous disorders of the immune system that result in chronic, serious, and often life-threatening infections if they are not properly diagnosed and treated. Worldwide, from 70 to 90% of PID sufferers remain undiagnosed because of poor awareness. Purpose: The aim of this study was to assess the awareness of general physicians of and pediatricians about primary immunodeficiency disease in the city of Ahvaz. Materials and Methods: An 80-item questionnaire in 5 sections on clinical symptoms, associated diseases, and syndromes, family history, laboratory investigations, and management of PIDs patients was designed valid and reliable by a pilot study. Results: A total of 257 physicians (200 general practitioners and 57 pediatricians) participated in the study. The mean age of participants was 30.35±8.54 years (range 25-59) including 61.48% female and 38.52% of male. The mean overall knowledge score was 58.91±5.47% (49.31 to 90.41%) among pediatricians and 65.22±10.68% (45.20 to 75.34%) in general practitioners. There was a significant difference in the percentages of correct answers between pediatricians and general practitioners (p < 0.0001). Moreover, 45.6% of pediatricians and 9.5% of general practitioners answered correctly more than 2/3 of questions (67% of questions). Conclusions: The results of this study revealed that the physicians need to have a much greater awareness about PID in Ahvaz city of Iran. A more comprehensive pre/postgraduate education in PID appears to be necessary for physicians in Ahvaz.

[学科分类] 基础医学

[关键词] Primary immunodeficiency;physicians;awareness;Ahvaz;Questionnaire