Attitude of pediatricians toward establishing a “Down Syndrome Clinic”
- Country : Oman
- Subject :
Keywords : Down syndrome, follow up clinic, genetic counselor, Oman
Abstract
Background: Down syndrome (DS) is the commonest chromosomal abnormality in human, and one of the commonest genetic causes of intellectual disability. (1) The syndrome cost the families and health care system a lot. The patient of DS needs multi-disciplinary team approach. In 2015, Oman Ministry of Health (MOH) published informative DS guideline booklet. (7) However, the implementation of that guideline in the current clinical practice is still suboptimal, hence our study aims to evaluate the attitude of the physicians in the child health department particularly in Ash Sharqiyah South Medical Governate (SSMG) toward establishing a new clinic operated specifically for DS patient.
Methods: In this cross-sectional study, questionnaires distributed to evaluate the current service, and to explore the attitude of the physicians toward establishing a new clinic for DS patients. Data processed SPSS version 29. Sample size included all pediatricians SSMG hospitals.
Results: 42 doctors working in Child Health Department (CHD) included in the study. 40 (95%) agreed that there is no current DS clinic in South Sharqiyah governorate. All (100%) agreed that a new well-structured clinic is needed. About (19%) of the physicians are not aware about the MOH guidelines for DS and (12%) only who follow exactly the MOH DS booklet recommendation.
Most of the physicians (61%) agreed that Sur polyclinic is the most suitable place for such clinic.
Conclusion: Our study showed that the current down syndrome follow-up system is suboptimal, and establishment of a new, well-structured clinic designed and operated specifically for DS patients in Sur polyclinic, following the national and international guidelines is highly recommended.
Comments
No have any comment !