Dados do Trabalho

Título

Knowledge and attitudes about dementia of primary care physicians of Rio Grande do Sul: preliminary analysis.

Resumo

Introduction: Knowing the knowledge and attitudes about dementia of primary care physicians (PCP) in the state of Rio Grande do Sul (RS) is essential for the establishment of educational measures. Objectives: To assess knowledge attitudes about dementia among PCP in RS. Methods: A form was sent by e-mail to the physicians of primary care in RS. We collected sociodemographic data, volume of patients with dementia treated and perception of difficulties in caring for these patients. A previously validated questionnaire was sent: "Quiz on Knowledge and Attitudes in Dementia". In addition to the descriptive analysis and comparison of data between the health macro-regions of the state, we performed principal components analysis in the results of the attitude quiz. Results: From March to April 2022, 147 PCP (from 135 municipalities) responded to the form. About half were women (51%; n=75) and the median age (interquartile range - IQR) was 35 (30-42) years-old. Most worked in Family Health Strategy teams (93.9%) and the time as a physician was 7 (4-14) years. Most had training in Family and Community Medicine (40.8%) or had no specialization (40.1%). The Missioneira (Northwest) region (21.8%) was the one with the most responses and the South region (7.5%) had the least. Most physicians see less than 5 patients with suspected dementia per month (71.4%) and 27.2% said refer less than 5 patients/month to tertiary care. The main reasons for referral were difficulty in drug management (35.4%) and behavioral difficulties (29.9%). The Mini Mental State Examination was the most used test, both as a screening (65.3%) and in clinical suspicion (79.6%). Less than half of the physicians perform cognitive screening (47.6%), mainly because of the patient's complaint (66%) and the presence of a family history of dementia (38.8%). The mean percentage of correct answers in the knowledge quiz was 42.9%, with no difference between the regions of RS. In the attitude quiz, the principal component analysis identified 2 factors: 1) frankly positive attitudes towards patients with dementia and 2) speed in revealing the diagnosis, but with a greater tendency towards referral. Conclusion: Knowledge about dementia is low among PCP in RS; however, most have positive attitudes towards these patients. Increasing the sample size may provide information about differences between regions in the state.