Knowledge, attitude, and practices with respect to disease surveillance among urban private practitioners in Pune, India
BACKGROUND: Participation of private practitioners in routine disease surveillance in India is minimal despite the fact that they account for over 70% of the primary healthcare provision. We aimed to investigate the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of private practitioners in the city of Pune tow...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
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Co-Action Publishing
2016
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/38497/ |
| _version_ | 1848795625146023936 |
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| author | Phalkey, Revati K. Kroll, Mareike Dutta, Sayani Shukla, Sharvari Butsch, Carsten Bharucha, Erach Kraas, Frauke |
| author_facet | Phalkey, Revati K. Kroll, Mareike Dutta, Sayani Shukla, Sharvari Butsch, Carsten Bharucha, Erach Kraas, Frauke |
| author_sort | Phalkey, Revati K. |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | BACKGROUND: Participation of private practitioners in routine disease surveillance in India is minimal despite the fact that they account for over 70% of the primary healthcare provision. We aimed to investigate the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of private practitioners in the city of Pune toward disease surveillance. Our goal was to identify what barriers and facilitators determine their participation in current and future surveillance efforts.
DESIGN: A questionnaire-based survey was conducted among 258 practitioners (response rate 86%). Data were processed using SPSS™ Inc., Chicago, IL, USA, version 17.0.1.
RESULTS: Knowledge regarding surveillance, although limited, was better among allopathy practitioners. Surveillance practices did not differ significantly between allopathy and alternate medicine practitioners. Multivariable logistic regression suggested practicing allopathy [odds ratio (OR) 3.125, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.234–7.915, p=0.016] and availability of a computer (OR 3.670, 95% CI 1.237–10.889, p=0.019) as significant determinants and the presence of a laboratory (OR 3.792, 95% CI 0.998–14.557, p=0.052) as a marginal determinant of the practitioner's willingness to participate in routine disease surveillance systems. Lack of time (137, 55%) was identified as the main barrier at the individual level alongside inadequately trained subordinate staff (14, 6%). Main extrinsic barriers included lack of cooperation between government and the private sector (27, 11%) and legal issues involved in reporting data (15, 6%). There was a general agreement among respondents (239, 94%) that current surveillance efforts need strengthening. Over a third suggested that availability of detailed information and training about surveillance processes (70, 33%) would facilitate reporting.
CONCLUSIONS: The high response rate and the practitioners’ willingness to participate in a proposed pilot non-communicable disease surveillance system indicate that there is a general interest from the private sector in cooperating. Keeping reporting systems simple, preferably in electronic formats that minimize infrastructure and time requirements on behalf of the private practitioners, will go a long way in consolidating disease surveillance efforts in the state. Organizing training sessions, providing timely feedback, and awarding continuing medical education points for routine data reporting seem feasible options and should be piloted. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:35:03Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-38497 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:35:03Z |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publisher | Co-Action Publishing |
| recordtype | eprints |
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| spelling | nottingham-384972020-05-04T18:08:32Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/38497/ Knowledge, attitude, and practices with respect to disease surveillance among urban private practitioners in Pune, India Phalkey, Revati K. Kroll, Mareike Dutta, Sayani Shukla, Sharvari Butsch, Carsten Bharucha, Erach Kraas, Frauke BACKGROUND: Participation of private practitioners in routine disease surveillance in India is minimal despite the fact that they account for over 70% of the primary healthcare provision. We aimed to investigate the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of private practitioners in the city of Pune toward disease surveillance. Our goal was to identify what barriers and facilitators determine their participation in current and future surveillance efforts. DESIGN: A questionnaire-based survey was conducted among 258 practitioners (response rate 86%). Data were processed using SPSS™ Inc., Chicago, IL, USA, version 17.0.1. RESULTS: Knowledge regarding surveillance, although limited, was better among allopathy practitioners. Surveillance practices did not differ significantly between allopathy and alternate medicine practitioners. Multivariable logistic regression suggested practicing allopathy [odds ratio (OR) 3.125, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.234–7.915, p=0.016] and availability of a computer (OR 3.670, 95% CI 1.237–10.889, p=0.019) as significant determinants and the presence of a laboratory (OR 3.792, 95% CI 0.998–14.557, p=0.052) as a marginal determinant of the practitioner's willingness to participate in routine disease surveillance systems. Lack of time (137, 55%) was identified as the main barrier at the individual level alongside inadequately trained subordinate staff (14, 6%). Main extrinsic barriers included lack of cooperation between government and the private sector (27, 11%) and legal issues involved in reporting data (15, 6%). There was a general agreement among respondents (239, 94%) that current surveillance efforts need strengthening. Over a third suggested that availability of detailed information and training about surveillance processes (70, 33%) would facilitate reporting. CONCLUSIONS: The high response rate and the practitioners’ willingness to participate in a proposed pilot non-communicable disease surveillance system indicate that there is a general interest from the private sector in cooperating. Keeping reporting systems simple, preferably in electronic formats that minimize infrastructure and time requirements on behalf of the private practitioners, will go a long way in consolidating disease surveillance efforts in the state. Organizing training sessions, providing timely feedback, and awarding continuing medical education points for routine data reporting seem feasible options and should be piloted. Co-Action Publishing 2016-10-01 Article PeerReviewed Phalkey, Revati K., Kroll, Mareike, Dutta, Sayani, Shukla, Sharvari, Butsch, Carsten, Bharucha, Erach and Kraas, Frauke (2016) Knowledge, attitude, and practices with respect to disease surveillance among urban private practitioners in Pune, India. Global Health Action, 8 (28413). pp. 1-10. ISSN 1654-9880 knowledge-attitude-practice; private practitioners; disease surveillance; barriers and facilitators http://www.globalhealthaction.net/index.php/gha/article/view/28413 doi:10.3402/gha.v8.28413 doi:10.3402/gha.v8.28413 |
| spellingShingle | knowledge-attitude-practice; private practitioners; disease surveillance; barriers and facilitators Phalkey, Revati K. Kroll, Mareike Dutta, Sayani Shukla, Sharvari Butsch, Carsten Bharucha, Erach Kraas, Frauke Knowledge, attitude, and practices with respect to disease surveillance among urban private practitioners in Pune, India |
| title | Knowledge, attitude, and practices with respect to disease surveillance among urban private practitioners in Pune, India |
| title_full | Knowledge, attitude, and practices with respect to disease surveillance among urban private practitioners in Pune, India |
| title_fullStr | Knowledge, attitude, and practices with respect to disease surveillance among urban private practitioners in Pune, India |
| title_full_unstemmed | Knowledge, attitude, and practices with respect to disease surveillance among urban private practitioners in Pune, India |
| title_short | Knowledge, attitude, and practices with respect to disease surveillance among urban private practitioners in Pune, India |
| title_sort | knowledge, attitude, and practices with respect to disease surveillance among urban private practitioners in pune, india |
| topic | knowledge-attitude-practice; private practitioners; disease surveillance; barriers and facilitators |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/38497/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/38497/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/38497/ |