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Evidence-based medicine among Jordanian family physicians: awareness, attitude, and knowledge.

Year: 2009
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: OBJECTIVE: To assess family practitioners' attitudes toward and awareness of evidence-based medicine (EBM). DESIGN: A cross-sectional study from a questionnaire distributed between January and March 2007. SETTING: Rural and urban family medicine centres throughout Jordan that are affiliated with the Ministry of Health, military centres, university medical centres, and the private sector. PARTICIPANTS: Two hundred family physicians. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Family physicians' attitudes toward EBM; training in EBM; barriers to practising EBM; level of awareness of and access to EBM journals and databases; and knowledge and understanding of related technical terms. RESULTS: The response rate was 70.5%. Among those who responded, 56.7% were women and 42.6% were between the ages of 40 and 49 years. More than 50% of the respondents were working in mixed urban and rural practice settings. Most of the respondents had a positive attitude toward EBM: 63.5% welcomed the concept of EBM; more than 40% used EBM in their daily practices; and 90% agreed that practising EBM improved patient care. Of the respondents, 42.6% thought that the best way to move from opinion-based medicine to EBM was through learning the skills of EBM. Fifty percent of the respondents had access to MEDLINE, while only 20.4% of them had received formal training in research and critical appraisal. Lack of personal time was the main perceived barrier to practising EBM. Participants reported a low level of awareness of some of the technical terms. CONCLUSION: Jordanian family physicians showed eagerness to learn and implement EBM in their daily practices. Nevertheless, they need more guidance and training to ensure the correct application of EBM ideals.
Language: English
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2170650614
FWCI: 3.602
Cites: 24
Cited by: 52
Related to: 10