Physicians’ knowledge, attitude and practice of clinical audit in a tertiary health facility in a developing country: a cross-sectional study

INTRODUCTION: health outcomes in hospitals can be improved through regular conduct of clinical audit. This study assessed physicians´ knowledge, attitude, and practice of clinical audit at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH) in Rivers State. METHODS: a descriptive cross-sectional study involving 460 doctors selected through convenience sampling. A pretested self-administered questionnaire was administered, and data was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Research (SPSS) 23.0. RESULTS: a total of 457 questionnaires were analyzed giving a response rate of 99.3%. Only 57 (12.5%) of the 457 respondents had a correct understanding of the clinical audit process. Most respondents (75.1%) agreed that clinical audit is important in improving patient care, however only 29.9% were aware that the hospital has a clinical governance structure. Seventy-three (16.0%) doctors had received training in different forms of clinical audit, while 148 (33.0%) were involved in different clinical audit activities, with mortality audit being the most common clinical audit type (81, 17.7%). CONCLUSION: physicians at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital have poor understanding of the clinical audit process. The integration and scale-up of clinical audit activities as part of an overall clinical governance system in the teaching hospital is recommended.