Unit:
Κατεύθυνση Προαγωγή και Αγωγή της ΥγείαςLibrary of the School of Health Sciences
Author:
Nikitara Aikaterini
Supervisors info:
Ιωάννης Τούντας, Καθηγητής, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ, Επιβλέπων
Βασιλική Μπενέτου, Αναπληρώτρια Καθηγήτρια, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Γεώργιος Τσίτσας, ΕΕΔΙΠ, Επιστήμη Διαιτολογίας-Διατροφής, Χαροκόπειο Πανεπιστήμιο
Original Title:
Γνώσεις, στάσεις, δεξιότητες και πρακτικές των επαγγελματιών υγείας στην Ελλάδα σχετικά με την αναγνώριση των ασθενών με διατροφικές διαταραχές και την ανταπόκριση στη φροντίδα τους
Translated title:
Knowledge, skills, attitudes and practices of healthcare professionals in Greece regarding the screening and management of patients with eating disorders
Summary:
Introduction: Eating disorders are serious mental health illnesses, which cause a variety of medical complications and have increased mortality. However, despite the serious adverse effects, the proportion of patients who seek for appropriate help is extremely low. Although healthcare professionals play an important role in early detection and therapy of patients in risk of eating disorders, they seem to face a lot of challenges and barriers in the secondary prevention. The aim of this study is to address these challenges and also to evaluate the knowledge, the skills and the attitudes of doctors in relation to early identification and assistance of patients with eating disorder, as well as to specify the relationship between the beforementioned variables.
Methods: This is a cross-sectional study, which sample consists of 70 doctors in the primary health care unit of West Attica, not only in public, but also in private sector. A convenient and snowball sampling technique was used, while the tool of the study was a self-reported questionnaire. Regarding the results, bivariate analysis was performed, along with linear multivariate regressions.
Results: The doctors who participated in the study seem to have low self-perceived level of knowledge (score=24,13/max 45) and inadequate skills (score=23,6/max 45) with regard early detection and management of patients with eating disorders. Additionally, their attitudes were positive, while their self-efficacy and intention to help the patients were low. A relationship has been found between self-perceived knowledge and skills, skills and self-efficacy, skills and intentions and finally self-efficacy and the use of screening tool. The most mentioned barriers for recognizing symptoms of eating disorders are the lack of skills and the fact that patients refer to them for other medical problems.
Conclusions: The doctors’ lack of knowledge and skills regarding eating disorders lead to low self-efficacy and intention to screen and help patients with eating disorders and hence in low usage of screening tools.
Main subject category:
Health Sciences
Keywords:
Doctors, Primary healthcare, Greece, Patients, Eating disorders
Number of references:
115
