Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31395007›Full record

ArticleBMC emergency medicine2019

Knowledge, attitudes, and practices of Cameroonian physicians with regards to acute pain management in the emergency department: a multicenter cross-sectional study.

Paul Owono Etoundi, Junette Arlette Metogo Mbengono, Ferdinand Ndom Ntock, Joel Noutakdie Tochie, Dominique Christelle Anaba Ndom, Francky Teddy Endomba Angong, Gérard Beyiha, Jacqueline Ze Minkande

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC emergency medicine, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact, top 91% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Paul Owono EtoundiDepartment of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaoundé I, Yaoundé, Cameroon.
Junette Arlette Metogo MbengonoDepartment of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaoundé I, Yaoundé, Cameroon.
Ferdinand Ndom NtockDepartment of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaoundé I, Yaoundé, Cameroon.
Joel Noutakdie TochieDepartment of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaoundé I, Yaoundé, Cameroon. joeltochie@gmail.com.ORCID 0000-0002-8338-2467
Dominique Christelle Anaba NdomDepartment of Internal Medicine and Specialties, Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaoundé 1, Yaoundé, Cameroon.
Francky Teddy Endomba AngongDepartment of Internal Medicine and Specialties, Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaoundé 1, Yaoundé, Cameroon.
Gérard BeyihaDepartment of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaoundé I, Yaoundé, Cameroon.
Jacqueline Ze MinkandeDepartment of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaoundé I, Yaoundé, Cameroon.
Université de Yaoundé I · CM

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionPain is the most frequent presenting complaint in patients consulting or admitted to the emergency department (ED). Thus, its acute management is often done by physicians working in the ED. These clinicians are often general practitioners and not emergency medicine physicians in resource-poor settings. Hence, a mastery of pain management by these physicians may be important in relieving acute pain. We aimed to assess the knowledge, to determine the attitudes and practices of physicians in the management of pain in EDs of Cameroon.

methodsWe carried out a prospective cross-sectional study over 4 months in the year 2018. We enrolled all consenting physicians who were neither emergency medicine doctors nor anesthesiologists working at the EDs of five tertiary hospitals of Cameroon. Using a validated and pretested structured questionnaire, data on the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of acute pain management at the ED by these clinicians were studied. We used an externally validated score to assess the knowledge as either poor, insufficient, moderate or good.

resultsA total of 58 physicians were included; 18 interns or residents and 39 general practitioners. Their mean age was 28.6 ± 3 years and their average number of years of practice was 2.9 years. The level of knowledge was rated "poor" in 77.6% of physicians. Being a general practitioner was significantly associated with a poor level of knowledge (p = 0.02; OR = 5.1). We found a negative and significant correlation between knowledge and years of practice (p = 0.04; r2 = 0.06). More than three-quarter (82.8%) of participants used a pain scale to evaluate the severity of pain. The most used scale was the Visual Analog Scale (56.9%). The most frequently used analgesic was paracetamol (98.3%), although only 3.5% of physicians correctly knew its half-life, delay of onset of action and duration of action.

conclusionThese findings suggest that physicians in EDs of Cameroon have poor knowledge and suboptimal practices in pain management. General practice and a greater number of professional experience seemed to favour these attitudes. Overall, there is an urgent need for refresher courses in acute pain management for physicians working in these resource-limited EDs.

Indexed as

Health Knowledge, Attitudes, PracticeAdultCameroonCross-Sectional StudiesEmergency Service, HospitalFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedPain ManagementPain MeasurementPhysiciansSurveys and QuestionnairesAttitudesCameroonDoctorsEmergency departmentKnowledgePainPractices

Identifiers

PMID31395007
PMCPMC6688326
OpenAlexW2965523402

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.