Table 1 Nigerian physicians’ knowledge and practices related to notifiable disease reporting (N = 245)
Knowledge of notifiable diseases: | Total | ≤10 years clinical experience(n = 145) | >10 years clinical experience(n = 100) | p-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Correctly identified avian influenza (AI) | 245 (100%) | 145 (100%) | 100 (100%) | 1.00† |
Correctly identified polio/acute flaccid paralysis | 229 (93%) | 134 (92%) | 95 (95%) | 0.59* |
Correctly identified measles | 174 (71%) | 99 (68%) | 75 (75%) | 0.32* |
Correctly identified all three diseases (AI, polio, and measles) | 173 (71%) | 99 (68%) | 74 (74%) | 0.39* |
Experience reporting notifiable diseases: | ||||
Have reported a notifiable disease | 163 (67%) | 94 (64%) | 69 (69%) | 0.59** |
Have never reported a notifiable disease | 81 (33%) | 50 (34%) | 31 (31%) | 0.59** |
Unsure | 1 (0%) | 1 (1%) | 0 (0%) | 0.59** |
Reason(s) for never reporting a notifiable disease (n = 78††): | ||||
Have never seen a case of notifiable infectious disease | 51 (65%) | 30/47 (64%) | 21/31 (68%) | 0.72* |
Lack of infrastructure/reporting system | 8 (10%) | 4 (9%) | 4 (13%) | 0.71† |
Don’t know how/to whom to report this information | 6 (8%) | 5 (11%) | 1 (3%) | 0.39† |
Don’t believe that reporting will lead to any government response | 5 (6%) | 4 (9%) | 1 (3%) | 0.64† |
Don’t believe it is their job/thought someone else was responsible | 5 (6%) | 2 (4%) | 3 (10%) | 0.38† |
To protect patient confidentiality | 1 (1%) | 1 (2%) | 0 (0%) | 1.00† |
Too busy to report | 1 (1%) | 1 (2%) | 0 (0%) | 1.00† |
Did not have the appropriate materials (forms, telephone, etc.) | 1 (1%) | 1 (2%) | 0 (0%) | 1.00† |
Other reason (e.g., disease already known in community) | 13 (17%) | 8 (17%) | 5 (16%) | 0.93* |