Attitudes of primary health care physician managers toward research: a pre-experimental study

Abstract

Research in primary health care (PHC) is underdeveloped and scarce, especially in developing countries. It is important to understand the attitudes and aspirations of PHC physicians for the promotion of research. The aim of this study was to determine the attitudes of PHC physician managers toward research in Qassim province and to identify barriers that impede performing research in the PHC system. The study was based on social cognitive theory framework, and was pre-experimental with a 'one-group pre-test-post-test' design. The study participants were physician managers in PHC administration, Qassim. The participants' attitudes were measured by adapting statements from the Attitude Towards Research scale. The intervention was the 1-day training program 'Introduction to Research in Primary Health Care'. A total of 23 PHC physicians participated in the study. The mean age of the participants was 45.4 (±1.6) years, and the mean years of work experience was 16.2 (±2.2) years. Only one participant had an article published in a peer-reviewed journal. The results of the study showed that PHC physicians had a baseline positive attitude toward research that was further enhanced after participating in an introductory research-training program. During the pre-test, out of the total score of 63, the mean score on attitude toward research was 48.35 (±6.8) while the mean total attitude score in the post-test was 49.7 (±6.6). However, the difference was not statistically significant at P<0.05. The item with the highest score regarded the role of research in the improvement of health care services, while the lowest-scoring item was about support from administration to conduct research. The participants recognised lack of skills, lack of training and inadequate resources as major barriers in conducting research. Our study results suggest that the PHC physicians' positive attitudes toward research can be further improved through in-service training. To promote research in PHC in Qassim, regular research-training programs and incentives for conducting research should be provided to the PHC physicians.

An assessment of knowledge of basic research methods among primary health care workers in Riyadh region

“…7 However, similar to our findings, majority of the previous studies conducted across the health professionals have reported overall good attitude towards medical research. [4][5][6][7][14][15][16][17] The proportion of correct responses in different knowledge items related to research methodology ranged from 14% (knowledge item related to reference management software) to 55% (knowledge item related to consent). We didn't find a significant relationship with knowledge and gender, however; some have reported a significant association of gender with knowledge, attitude and practice.…”

“…Having good attitude along with low knowledge have also been reported by various other studies. [4][5][6][15][16][17] Interestingly the knowledge items were not found to be statistically significantly different among classes of health professionals, however; it was higher among physicians. Among primary care physicians, a significantly higher level of research participation has been reported among family medicine specialist as compared to general practitioners.…”