Assessment of family and internal medicine physicians knowledge and practice of bronchial asthma at Riyadh city

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of bronchial asthma (BA) is increasing in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The knowledge and adherence to guidelines by physicians can play a major role in controlling asthma. AIM: To assess the knowledge and practice of family medicine and internal medicine physicians about BAat King Saudi University medical city in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. METHODOLOGY: A cross-sectional survey study was conducted. All family and internal medicine physicians at King Khalid University Hospital were included. A total of 180 physicians participated. The questionnaire was developed according to the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) guideline to assess the knowledge and practice of physicians towards bronchial asthma, included questions (diagnosis, severity classification, management, and referral). RESULTS: All participated physicians knowledge and practice level about BAwaslow; the average scores were around 50%. The comparison between family and internal medicine physicians' knowledge shows insignificant differences. The only exception is the management part; family medicine physicians show better results than internal medicine physicians. The years of experience and higher qualification show significant improvement in the level of the knowledge scores. CONCLUSION: The knowledge of physicians about the diagnosis, assessment of severity, management, and referral of BA was unsatisfactory. We recommend an adoption of a special asthma clinic for teaching, supervising, and managing purposes assigned to an expert consultant.