A Comparative Study of Knowledge, Attitude and Practice among Pediatricians and General Practitioners toward Urinary Tract Infection in Children

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is not uncommon in infants and children. Delayed initiation of empiric therapy may be accompanied with severity of infection and high likelihood of kidney scars leading to hypertension and chronic kidney disease. However, correct management could prevent these complications. There is scarce published data on knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of pediatricians and general practitioners (GPs) about UTI. In this survey, we aimed to compare KAP of GPs (as the first level of health system) and pediatricians (the second level of health system) considering different aspects of managing patients with UTI. In this KAP study, a 15-item questionnaire was designed by pediatric nephrologists and statisticians. The questionnaires were distributed among GPs and pediatricians who attended the continuous medical education (CME). Finally, 70 pediatricians and 149 GPs were included in our study. Mean knowledge score of GPs and pediatricians were 2.7 ± 1.2 and 3.6 ± 1.2, respectively. Mean scores of practice among GPs was and pediatricians were 2.1 ± 1.2 and 2.9 ± 1.1, respectively. There were significant differences in scores of knowledge and practice between the two groups. However, mean scores of attitude were not significantly different between GPs and pediatricians (15.1 ± 2.1 vs. 15.2 ± 1.9). Controversies in UTI management, accepted references for education of GPs and pediatricians in CME courses, and patient's feedback received by pediatricians who work for higher levels of health systems make differences in KAP between pediatricians and GPs.