TY  - JOUR
AU  - Haq, Irfan Ul
AU  - Hameed, Mansoor Ali
AU  - Thomas, Merlin Marry
AU  - Syed, Khezar Shahzada
AU  - Othman, Ahmad Mohammad Mahmoud
AU  - Ahmed, Shakeel
AU  - Alabbas, Abbas Abdallah
AU  - Ahmad, Mushtaq
PY  - 2021
DA  - 2021/5/12
TI  - Knowledge of Sleep Disorders Among Physicians at a Tertiary Care Hospital in Qatar: Cross-sectional Study
JO  - Interact J Med Res
SP  - e25606
VL  - 10
IS  - 2
KW  - sleep disordered breathing
KW  - obstructive sleep apnea
KW  - sleep
KW  - physician
KW  - physician knowledge
KW  - sleep disorder
KW  - survey method
KW  - attitudes
KW  - practice
AB  - Background: Sleep disorders constitute a major health problem because of their relatively high and rising prevalence. Several studies worldwide have analyzed health care providers’ knowledge of sleep disorders. Objective: In this study, we aimed to assess the knowledge of sleep disorders among physicians in Qatar. Methods: A total of 250 physicians were surveyed regarding their knowledge of sleep medicine by using the validated 30-item Assessment of Sleep Knowledge in Medical Education (ASKME) Survey. The participants included residents, fellows, and consultants in medicine and allied subspecialties. A high score was defined as ≥60% of correctly answered questions, implying the respondent has adequate knowledge of sleep disorders. Results: Responses were received from 158 of the 250 physicians, with a response rate of 63.2%. This included responses from 34 residents, 74 clinical fellows, and 50 consultants. The overall mean score was 15.53 (SD 4.42), with the highest possible score of 30. Only 57 of 158 (36.1%) respondents were able to answer ≥60% of the questions correctly. No statistically significant difference was found in the scores of participants with regard to their ranks (ie, residents, fellows, or consultants) or years of medical training. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that health care providers in Qatar have decreased awareness and knowledge about sleep medicine, which may reflect reduced emphasis on sleep disorders during medical school and training. Increasing awareness regarding sleep medicine among nonspecialist physicians will allow early detection and treatment of sleep disorders, thereby reducing the morbidity associated with these disorders. 
SN  - 1929-073X
UR  - https://www.i-jmr.org/2021/2/e25606
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2196/25606
UR  - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33978594
DO  - 10.2196/25606
ID  - info:doi/10.2196/25606
ER  -