Knowledge and Practices about Recognition and Treatment of Hidradenitis Suppurativa and Associated Factors in Primary Healthcare among Family Medicine Residents

Abstract

Introduction: Early identification of Hidradenitis Suppurativa (HS) has a significant role to prevent the complication of the disease, which is the role that can be played by family physicians. This study aimed to determine the level of knowledge and practice of family medicine residents living in Makkah regarding the recognition and treatment of HS.
Methods: An analytical cross-sectional study was carried out in 2020-2021 among a sample of family medicine residents recruited from all family medicine program centers in Makkah city. A reliable valid self-administered questionnaire was used online to collect information regarding demographic data from the candidate, general knowledge about all aspects of HS, participants` beliefs regarding who should take care of and follow up with HS patients and the overall confidence in HS diagnosis and treatment.
Results: The study included 158 resident physicians. Their age ranged between 20 and 44 with a mean±SD of 27.7±2.8 years. Females represent 52.5% of them. All were Saudi nationals. Almost two-thirds of the participants (67.1%) were aware of HS. The main source of information about HS was the clinical practice (50.9%), followed by the medical school (15.1%). Overall, 63.3% of the participants had a sufficient knowledge level regarding HS. Female residents were more knowledgeable about HS compared to male residents, p=0.033. Most of the resident physicians who reported rotation in the dermatology department (79.3%) compared to 46.1% of those who did not report such rotation had sufficient knowledge about HS, p<0.001. With increasing the number of dermatology cases seen, the level of sufficient knowledge about HS increased, p=0.002. The majority of the resident family physicians put the responsibility on dermatologists, followed by PHC physicians regarding HS diagnosis and treatment.
Conclusions: A considerable proportion of family medicine residents enrolled in Makkah Family Medicine program were aware and expressed a good level of knowledge regarding Hidradenitis suppurativa. Despite that, the majority of them put the responsibility on dermatologists regarding HS diagnosis and treatment.