Syrian Health Providers' Knowledge of Palliative Care: An Online Cross‑Sectional Study in Syria
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5195/ijms.2022.1821Keywords:
Palliative care, Knowledge, Healthcare workers, AttitudesAbstract
Background: Palliative care is a method to alleviate pain and enhance the quality of life for patients suffering from the consequences of a life-threatening illness. The knowledge of palliative care among healthcare professionals is poor; therefore, training programs are needed to offer patients appropriate treatment and improve their health. In Syria, as palliative care programs are rarely applied, we aim to evaluate the knowledge regarding palliative care among healthcare workers.
Methods: This is an online cross-sectional study conducted between July 24 and August 28, 2022 to measure palliative care knowledge and its applications among Syrian healthcare workers. The questionnaire for the study was designed in light of a previous study, and the inclusion criteria were Syrian healthcare workers, including physicians and nurses, as well as medical and nursing students. The four sections of the questionnaire included sociodemographic information in the first part, while the second, third, and fourth parts assessed experience, knowledge, and attitude toward palliative care among healthcare workers, respectively. Data were analyzed in IBM SPSS V. 28.0 using descriptive and multivariate logistic regression analysis.
Results: Among 602 participants, 66.2% of participants were females. Most respondents were medical students (72.9%), while residents and nurses or nursing students represented 18.8% and 8.3%, respectively. The majority of participants (84%) answered the question about pain treatment goals correctly, while a small percentage (5.3%) answered the question about whether or not long-term opioid use is addictive correctly. No significant difference in the overall knowledge score was shown among geographical areas, genders, and different specialties. Regarding the knowledge questions related to palliative care, only 14 participants were considered knowledgeable. The three most responses that received agreement regarding the attitudes towards palliative care were “Pain relievers should be given as needed to terminally ill patients” (89.7%), “Spiritual care must include counseling for the terminally ill patient” (84.3%), “Patients have the right to determine their own degree of psychosocial intervention” (81%). A significant difference existed between urban and rural residents in terms of the attitude score. When comparing first-year students to those in their fifth year, students in their fifth year were 8.06 times more likely to have a positive attitude.
Conclusions: Our results demonstrated that healthcare professionals have inadequate knowledge about palliative care. There is an urgent need to introduce palliative care to the health system in Syria in order to improve the quality of life of these patients in their terminal stages of illness and to provide care for patients who need it.
Metrics
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
Categories
License
Copyright (c) 2022 Nagham Jawish, Haidara Bohsas, Sarya Swed, Hidar Alibrahim, Bisher Sawaf, Yazan Khair Eldien Jabban, Wael Hafez
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- The Author retains copyright in the Work, where the term “Work” shall include all digital objects that may result in subsequent electronic publication or distribution.
- Upon acceptance of the Work, the author shall grant to the Publisher the right of first publication of the Work.
- The Author shall grant to the Publisher and its agents the nonexclusive perpetual right and license to publish, archive, and make accessible the Work in whole or in part in all forms of media now or hereafter known under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License or its equivalent, which, for the avoidance of doubt, allows others to copy, distribute, and transmit the Work under the following conditions:
- Attribution—other users must attribute the Work in the manner specified by the author as indicated on the journal Web site; with the understanding that the above condition can be waived with permission from the Author and that where the Work or any of its elements is in the public domain under applicable law, that status is in no way affected by the license.
- The Author is able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the nonexclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the Work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), as long as there is provided in the document an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post online a prepublication manuscript (but not the Publisher’s final formatted PDF version of the Work) in institutional repositories or on their Websites prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work. Any such posting made before acceptance and publication of the Work shall be updated upon publication to include a reference to the Publisher-assigned DOI (Digital Object Identifier) and a link to the online abstract for the final published Work in the Journal.
- Upon Publisher’s request, the Author agrees to furnish promptly to Publisher, at the Author’s own expense, written evidence of the permissions, licenses, and consents for use of third-party material included within the Work, except as determined by Publisher to be covered by the principles of Fair Use.
- The Author represents and warrants that:
- the Work is the Author’s original work;
- the Author has not transferred, and will not transfer, exclusive rights in the Work to any third party;
- the Work is not pending review or under consideration by another publisher;
- the Work has not previously been published;
- the Work contains no misrepresentation or infringement of the Work or property of other authors or third parties; and
- the Work contains no libel, invasion of privacy, or other unlawful matter.
- The Author agrees to indemnify and hold Publisher harmless from the Author’s breach of the representations and warranties contained in Paragraph 6 above, as well as any claim or proceeding relating to Publisher’s use and publication of any content contained in the Work, including third-party content.
Enforcement of copyright
The IJMS takes the protection of copyright very seriously.
If the IJMS discovers that you have used its copyright materials in contravention of the license above, the IJMS may bring legal proceedings against you seeking reparation and an injunction to stop you using those materials. You could also be ordered to pay legal costs.
If you become aware of any use of the IJMS' copyright materials that contravenes or may contravene the license above, please report this by email to contact@ijms.org
Infringing material
If you become aware of any material on the website that you believe infringes your or any other person's copyright, please report this by email to contact@ijms.org
