Reasons for under-reporting of notifiable communicable diseases in the Kingdom of Bahrain: a health-centers based survey

Abstract

Background: Poor compliance by physicians with communicable diseases reporting is a worldwide phenomenon. In Bahrain, there are limited data regarding thoroughness and completeness of the current communicable diseases reporting system. Objective: To identify reasons for noncompliance with reporting of notifiable communicable diseases by primary health care physicians practicing in the Ministry of Health (MoH) primary health care centers. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study. Two hundred and forty-one self-administered questionnaires were distributed to all primary health care physicians practicing in all primary care health centers of the Ministry of Health. The questionnaires included items regarding socio-demographic and practice-related characteristics, self-reported practice related to communicable diseases reporting and reasons for noncompliance with reporting requirements. Results: The response rate was 93%; the mean age of the respondents was 43 ±8.36 years. The period of experience in clinical practice ranged from 1 to 35 years with a mean of 12.84 ± 7.86 years. Lack of feedback on notified cases, forgot to notify, and not sure of diagnosis were cited by more than half of the physicians as reasons for noncompliance with communicable diseases reporting. Conclusion: The findings suggest that there are several reasons for noncompliance with reporting requirements. Revising the current notification procedure to resolve some of the reasons is vital to enhance communicable diseases reporting in Bahrain.

Integrated Disease Surveillance Response Practice and Associated Factors Among Health Professionals Working in Public Hospitals in West Hararghe Zone, Eastern Oromia, Ethiopia: Multi-Center Cross-Sectional Study

“…This finding is higher than the study done in Jordan 13 and the Eastern part of Nigeria 21 in which only 39.50% and 25.20% of health-care providers had a good level of IDSR practice, respectively. On the contrary, the result of this study showed a lower level of IDRS practice compared to the study conducted in Egypt, 14 Nigeria, 27 Kingdom of Bahrain 8 and in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, 19 which revealed 68.70%, 63.50%, 80.01%, and 80.40% good level of IDSR practice, respectively. The reason for this discrepancy might be knowledge differences, low organizational support, the country’s educational curriculum, and the complexity of reporting systems and study areas.…”

“… 7 Such activities need the functioning system of IDSR that involves the continuous scrutiny of disease on an individual, local, national, and international level and depends on health professionals practicing in the health-care sector. 8 …”

“…Lack of organizational support, poor knowledge, lack of time or workload, procedure complexity, inadequate resources, transport and communication challenges, perceptions, lack of regular data analysis and interpretation, absence of feedback, poor staff motivation, lack of staff, lack of training and weak supervision were factors linked to poor IDSR practice and reported to affect the overall implementation of the IDSR system. 5 , 8 , 19–24 Like other resource-restricted countries, in Ethiopia, recurrent and unexpected disease outbreaks are continually confronting the public health system. The management of health consequences of natural and human-made disasters, emergencies, crises, wars, and conflicts is challenging the detection and response to outbreaks and continues to disrupt the already fragile healthcare system in the country.…”

Compliance of Primary Healthcare Workers in Saudi Arabia With the National Surveillance System of Tropical and Non-tropical Dermatological Diseases

“…Previous research [ 17 ] attributed that to various reasons, including undetectable asymptomatic diseases, substandard public health infrastructures, and government censorship. Similar to other studies' findings [ 11 , 18 ], the vast majority (88%) of participants in the current study did not report any infectious diseases, though they worked at primary healthcare facilities where it was expected to encounter a variety of infectious cases that required reporting. Furthermore, about two-thirds of participants have yet to attend a surveillance training course regarding reporting and other surveillance system processes, which is considered another finding that might explain the non-compliance with communicable disease reporting.…”

“…Moreover, as per the current study participants, the high workload was the justification behind the low compliance with reporting. However, these findings have frequently been reported in previous studies [ 17 , 18 ] and demonstrate the need for leader support to address these ongoing issues from the related authority.…”