General Physicians' Knowledge Of Tuberculosis Control And Treatment With Dots Strategy

Purpose:  Tuberculosis  has  a long  history and  it is  still  fatal in the  third  millennium. Since 1993, the Directly Observed Therapy Short-Course (DOTS) strategy has been approved  by the WHO as a global strategy for tuberculosis  treatment and control.  This research was undertaken to assess the general physicians' (GPs) knowledge of tuberculosis control and treatment using DOTS  strategy  and  to  evaluate  the necessity for its insertion in the medical schools' curriculum.Material  &  Method:   1500  questionnaires were      distributed  to GPs   at national conferences and  continuing        medical education sessions in tuberculosis and infections   diseases. The questionnaires included questions  about demographic information,  general  knowledge  about DOTS,  implementation  of  DOTS  and problems related to its implementation.All data were analyzed with an SPSS package, using the Chi-square rest.Findings: Out   of   the   486   GPs   who responded   to  the  questionnaires,   34·5% knew  what  DOTS  stood  for,  and  43·8% were familiar with the definition of DOTS. In clinical    teaching course,10·2% had become familiar   with   DOTS   in  medical schools and 56·6%, through the health care system.   69% of the trained GPs and 14% of  the  untrained GPs answered the questions correctly.  (P=0·001).  About 21% of  the GPs were    involved in  the implementation  of DOTS.  Among  the GPs who were involved in implementing DOTS,82%  gave  correct  answers. From  among General Physicians' knowledge of tuberculosis control the GPs  who were  not involved in implementing DOTS.  33% had correct answers to the questions (P=0·001).Conclusion: According to the results of this research GPs   have   little   knowledge   of DOTS strategy.   Its entry into the medical curriculum is therefore essential.Keywords: DOTS, Tuberculosis  control, GPs' Knowledge.