Attitude of family physicians for reporting infectious diseases

Abstract

Introduction: Reporting liability of family physicians/general practitioners is the keystone for proper surveillance of infectious diseases. Aim: The aim of the study was to find out why some of the family physicians neglect to report infectious diseases to the health authorities and determine their motivation and attitude towards the infectious disease reporting system. Method: Self-fill-in questionnaire was used to obtain data. Of the 228 family physicians who were called to participate in the study 116 family physicians sent back evaluable questionnaires. Descriptive statistic method was used to analyze the data and determine the reporting frequencies and ratios. Results: Family physicians reported nearly 50% of all reported cases of infectious diseases. The main reason of underreporting was the lack of knowledge about the rules of the reporting system. According to most family physicians, an online based reporting system would be much more efficient instead of a paper based one. Conclusions: The authors conclude that education of family physicians would be mandatory in order to improve reporting of infectious diseases. Orv. Hetil., 2014, 155(31), 1228–1235.