Article type
Year
Abstract
Context: Sepsis, severe sepsis, and septic shock (septic conditions) are responsible for high mortality rates and increased costs in health care. Moreover, septic conditions are of special interest to low-income tropical regions, because environmental and social conditions favor the microorganism proliferation, transmission, and antimicrobial resistance.
Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of physicians who are able to identify the following conditions: infection, systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), sepsis, severe sepsis, and septic shock.
Methods: This cross-sectional study is part of an evidence-based medicine initiative for several health specialties and health services in the Brazilian Amazon region. Eight public hospitals with intensive care units in the Amazon region (Belém City, Pará State, Brazil) were eligible for this study. A previously validated questionnaire was applied to physicians, including five hypothetical clinical cases and a question about their knowledge on the existence of the Surviving Sepsis Campaign.
Results: Directors from only four hospitals authorized participation in the study. From 108 physicians contacted personally, only 68 agreed to participate in the study. The three most frequent medical specialists were intensivists (20.7%), general surgeons (13.4%), and nephrologists (11.9%). Physicians with 18 other specialties represented 54% of all participants. The percentages of correct identification of infection, SIRS, sepsis, severe sepsis, and septic shock were 91%, 70.1%, 28.4%, 55.2%, and 79.1%, respectively. Only 19.4% of participants correctly identified all five hypothetical clinical cases. A lower percentage of physicians (35.8%) had knowledge about the existence of the Surviving Sepsis Campaign.
Conclusion: Unsatisfactory percentages of physicians were able to promptly identify sepsis and severe sepsis, showing the precarious medical assistance of patients with septic conditions in the Brazilian Amazon region. The authors of this study are preparing continuous, but short-term and objective, evidence-based educational strategies for diagnosis and treatment of septic conditions in these public health services.
Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of physicians who are able to identify the following conditions: infection, systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), sepsis, severe sepsis, and septic shock.
Methods: This cross-sectional study is part of an evidence-based medicine initiative for several health specialties and health services in the Brazilian Amazon region. Eight public hospitals with intensive care units in the Amazon region (Belém City, Pará State, Brazil) were eligible for this study. A previously validated questionnaire was applied to physicians, including five hypothetical clinical cases and a question about their knowledge on the existence of the Surviving Sepsis Campaign.
Results: Directors from only four hospitals authorized participation in the study. From 108 physicians contacted personally, only 68 agreed to participate in the study. The three most frequent medical specialists were intensivists (20.7%), general surgeons (13.4%), and nephrologists (11.9%). Physicians with 18 other specialties represented 54% of all participants. The percentages of correct identification of infection, SIRS, sepsis, severe sepsis, and septic shock were 91%, 70.1%, 28.4%, 55.2%, and 79.1%, respectively. Only 19.4% of participants correctly identified all five hypothetical clinical cases. A lower percentage of physicians (35.8%) had knowledge about the existence of the Surviving Sepsis Campaign.
Conclusion: Unsatisfactory percentages of physicians were able to promptly identify sepsis and severe sepsis, showing the precarious medical assistance of patients with septic conditions in the Brazilian Amazon region. The authors of this study are preparing continuous, but short-term and objective, evidence-based educational strategies for diagnosis and treatment of septic conditions in these public health services.