TITLE:
Physicians Attitude towards Pressure Injury Prevention and Management
AUTHORS:
Abdullah Bany Hamdan, Balaji Duraisamy, Sherwynn Javison, Tariq Wani, Musa Alharbi
KEYWORDS:
Cancer, Oncology, Attitude, Physician, Pressure, Skin, Injury
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Cancer Therapy,
Vol.11 No.4,
April
7,
2020
ABSTRACT: Background: Cancer and its management can cause cachexia,
which, along with prolonged immobility could lead to the development of chronic
pressure ulcers (PU). These complications result into infection and/or pressure
injury. Though pressure injury related tasks, are deemed to be given to staff
nurses alone. Little of literature is available on the physician’s attitude
towards PU prevention and management. Medical interns in 2015 concluded that
70% of them need more education in pressure injury. Present study is about physicians
involved in pressure injury identification and management in a Cancer Center. Material
and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in King Fahad Medical City among
oncology physicians using self-administered 11 statement survey questionnaire. Physician residents, fellows, assistant consultants’ and consultants’
attitudes were compared. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS. Results: In total 50 physicians completed the survey. The
physicians demonstrated a positive attitude with an average mean score of 42.35
± 4.65 (32, 51). The difference in the attitude scores among sub-groups was not
statistically significant. Conclusions: Our study demonstrated a positive attitude towards
pressure ulcer prevention and management among physicians working in Cancer
Center. We have also highlighted the challenges in maintaining this positive
attitude and possible strategies for improvement in the future.