Dysphagia Management in Iran: Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Healthcare Providers

AbstractDespite the remarkable burden of dysphagia, appropriate multidisciplinary management is lacking in Iran and patients are often deprived of effective treatments. Obtaining a full understanding of knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of healthcare providers is necessary to determine the gaps in improvement of the quality of care for dysphagic patients. A questionnaire was designed covering demographic information and the parameters of KAP. Face and content validity were determined. Test –retest reliability confirmed that the questionnaire scores are stable over time (r = 0.77,p value  <  0.01). Participants were healthcare providers employed in university-affiliated hospitals in three major cities of Iran; Tehran, Shiraz and Mashhad. In total, 312 healthcare professionals completed our survey. The majority (96.8%) were familiar with the term “dysphagia or swallowing disorders” . Most of the participants believed their profession (88.5%), as well as other disciplines (92.3%) can play an important role in the management of dysphagia; and this problem should be recognized in a multidisciplinary manner (96.2%). Also, 60.9% had encountered a patient with dysphagia. 52.2% had u sed at least one assessment method, while 49.9% had applied at least one treatment method. However, very few participants were familiar with a standard test for screening and assessment of dysphagia (11.9%). 74.7% were willing to participate in a workshop on dysphagia. As the main pi...
Source: Dysphagia - Category: Speech-Language Pathology Source Type: research