ABSTRACT

Introduction:

Follow-up of healthy children is one of the most important parts of primary care preventive health services. It is of vital importance that healthy child follow-ups are fully implemented in order to raise a healthy society. In this study, we aimed to determine the knowledge levels and attitudes of family physicians and their relationship with their sociodemographic characteristics.

Materials and Methods:

This descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted on family physicians in Turkey. The sample size was calculated as 380 and 402 physicians were included in the study. The 65-question questionnaire, which aims to evaluate the knowledge and attitudes of family physicians about healthy child follow-up, was developed by the researcher using the literature and guidelines, and was administered to volunteer physicians either face-to-face or via the internet. Data analysis was done with SPSS 21.0 package program.

Results:

Of the 402 physicians participating in the study, 42.0% (n=169) were male. The mean age of the physicians was 34.75±9.51 years and the mean working time in the profession was 9.90±9.56 years. Of the participants, 46.5% (n=187) were family physicians, 35.3% (n=142) were family medicine research assistants, and 18.2% (n=73) were family medicine specialists. The mean knowledge score of the physicians was 28.09±12.75 (minimum: 2, maximum: 64). A statistically significant difference was found between gender, institution of employment, time allotted to follow-ups, education about follow-ups, utilization of an algorithm/guide while making follow-ups, and knowledge levels. The mean score of attitude was 46.96±4.40 (minimum: 20, maximum: 60). The Cronbach’s alpha value of the attitude questionnaire was found to be 0.663.

Conclusion:

Level of knowledge of family physicians on healthy child follow-up is below the average, but it is hopeful that their attitudes on this issue are positive. In our study, the subjects with an accuracy rate of less than 50% are obesity, autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, developmental dysplasia of the hip, undescended testis, visual acuity, blood pressure, and we think that further studies are needed on these specific subjects. In addition, most of the physicians found it wrong to evaluate these follow-ups with negative performance, and this shows that new policies should be developed to encourage physicians.