RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Close to three-fourths of the population's health problems can be managed by way of providing care and prevention strategies at the primary healthcare center (PHCC) level. Periodical collections of physicians' perceptions about electronic systems at primary healthcare centers are required for quality improvement and also for the benefit of community practice. The objectives of the study are to find the physicians' perceptions, performance, and communication status with electronic systems. METHODOLOGY: A cross-sectional study was conducted among the PHCC physicians during the period from September 2022 to October 2023. Data was collected through semi-structured, self-administered electronic forms distributed to physicians based on the criteria. Data was entered, cleaned, and analyzed with Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20 software (IBM Corp., Armonk, New York). Necessary statistical tests like proportions and chi-square tests were applied. RESULTS: In the present study, 135 primary healthcare physicians participated. The response rate in the study population was 95%, and the mean age and the standard deviation in the study population were 32.99 ± 8.05. Approximately 91.1% of the physicians expressed that systems are essential in their daily work. Also, a similar percentage (90%) was observed about improving the quality of care. In contrast to this result, 60.8% of the physicians mentioned increased productivity, and decision-making was about 61.5%. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the study findings, physicians gave good perceptions about electronic systems working at PHCC. However, certain domains need to be improved in regard to decision-making and increasing productivity.
RESUMO
Introduction Human papillomaviruses (HPV) are known to be the main culprit of cervical cancer. It is the fourth most common cancer among women worldwide. In recent years, it has begun to spread more widely in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Health recently added HPV vaccination for women to the list of recommended vaccinations. Aim This study aimed to assess Saudi females' knowledge regarding HPV infection, screening, and the available tools for prevention in Qassim, Saudi Arabia. Subject and methods This is a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted among women living in the Qassim region of Saudi Arabia. A self-administered pre-structured questionnaire was distributed among the targeted women using an online platform. The questionnaire includes socio-demographic characteristics (i.e. age, education, occupation, etc.) knowledge questionnaire and a questionnaire about the attitude toward HPV protection. The minimum required sample size was 385. This means 385 or more measurements/surveys are needed to have a confidence level of 95% that the real value is within ±5% of the measured/surveyed value. All females aged 18 years and above who are living in the Qassim region of Saudi Arabia were included in our study. Males are excluded from this study. All data analyses were performed using Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS) (IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 26.0, Armonk, NY). Results Of the 387 women involved, 52.2% were aged between 18 and 25 years old. The prevalence of women who have heard of HPV was 49.1%. Fifty-four percent were willing to accept HPV vaccination if offered. The overall mean knowledge score was 3.56 (SD 2.51) out of 11 points. Poor knowledge levels constituted most of the women (71.1%), 24.5% had moderate knowledge and only 4.4% were considered good. Increased awareness was more prevalent in younger women, more educated, those who underwent Pap smear, and those who were willing to accept HPV vaccination. Conclusion The awareness of women toward HPV infection was deficient. Younger women who had a better education and who are willing to receive HPV vaccination were more likely to demonstrate better awareness levels toward HPV infection as compared to the rest of the women. More research is needed to establish the level of awareness among women in our region.