RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Physicians’ and nurses’ perceptions and attitudes toward sickle cell disease patients in Jazan, Saudi Arabia
JF Saudi Medical Journal
JO Saudi Med J
FD Prince Sultan Military Medical City
SP 841
OP 848
DO 10.15537/smj.2020.8.25183
VO 41
IS 8
A1 Ahmad A. Hazzazi
A1 Mohssen H. Ageeli
A1 Khalid A. Sharahili
A1 Hesham M. Hamaly
A1 Mohammad H. Aqeeli
A1 Tawfeeq I. Altherwi
A1 Mohammed Bakkar
A1 Hafiz Malhan
YR 2020
UL http://smj.org.sa/content/41/8/841.abstract
AB Objectives: To explore physicians’ and nurses’ perceptions and attitudes toward sickle cell patients in Jazan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).Methods: A cross-sectional study conducted in Jazan, KSA from November 2018 to March 2019. A convenience sample of nurses and physicians (N=244) from 12 hospitals in Jazan region completed the general perceptions about sickle cell disease patients scale questionnaire. Inferential statistics were conducted as appropriate to compare attitudes among groups within all variables. A p<0.05 was considered significant.Results: The response rate was 81%. The mean age was 33.73±7.89 years. Approximately, half of the participants were nurses (54.9%) and 40.8% were males. In comparison with physicians (39.6%), approximately two-thirds (65.7%) of nurses have more negative attitudes (p=0.000). Emergency healthcare providers have more negative attitudes than providers in the pediatric department (p=0.043). Those treating primarily children had higher positive attitude than those treating adults (p=0.013) or treating both, (p=0.017). Emergency providers (p=0.000), and internal medicine providers (p=0.001), had higher concern-raising behaviors’ scale scores than pediatric providers.Conclusion: Findings highlight a significant proportion of providers in Jazan region, KSA, to have negative attitudes toward and high concerns about drug-seeking behaviors among sickle cell patients. These attitudes can contribute to lower quality of care for people with sickle cell disease. Further studies are recommended to find out the factors behind these attitudes as well as the adherence to guidelines in the management of sickle cell disease.