KNOWLEDGE ATTITUDE AND PRACTICE ABOUT SKIN TUMORS AMONG TAIF PHYSICIANS, SAUDI ARABIA

Background: skin cancer is the commonest malignancy in west, yet, it represents the ninth most common cancer in Saudi Arabia. The aim of this study is to evaluate the level of knowledge, attitudes and practice among Taif Physicians. Method: Self administrated questionnaire used for data collection, composed of 4 sections demographics, knowledge, attitude, and practice. The study took 6 weeks duration and involved 200 physicians. Results: The mean score for the knowledge parameter is 32.27+/-3.9, for the attitude the mean is 11.55+/-2.01, and for practice is 20.93+/-2.9, and the mean for the total score for all parameters is 64.75 +/-2.9. It was found that the knowledge score is significantly higher in the participants working in the public sector than those in private sector [P<0.05]. There was a significant relationship between the age of participants and the knowledge, attitude and the total score [P<0.05], however, it has insignificant effect on practice score. The years of practice have significant effect on the mean score in case of knowledge [p-value =0.049] and for the total score [p-value=0.03]. The mean score is significantly higher in the group with more than 10 years of practice than the group with less than 5 years of practice in both knowledge [33.2+/-3.2 vs.31.6+/-4] and total score [66.4+/-6.9 vs. 63.6+/-6.2]. Conclusion: this study revealed that age and years of practice especially in physicians working in public centers have a positive impact on the level of knowledge, attitudes and practice among Taif Physicians.