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Australian doctors' beliefs and practice regarding Helicobacter pylori
Author(s) -
Mollison Lindsay C,
Jamrozik Konrad D,
Plant Aileen J
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1999.tb139165.x
Subject(s) - helicobacter pylori , medicine , odds ratio , peptic ulcer , gastroenterology , confidence interval , duodenal ulcer , family medicine
Objective To determine beliefs and behaviours of Australian doctors regarding Helicobacter pylori.Design Anonymous reply‐paid postal survey mailed in December 1995 and again in March 1996. Subjects All members on the mailing lists of the Gastroenterological Society of Australia Endoscopy Section (n=397) and the Australian Society of Infectious Diseases (n=264; those without medical qualifications were asked not to reply), and 400 general practitioners (GPs) randomly selected from the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. Main outcome measures Differences between specialist groups in belief in a causative association between H. pylori and peptic disease and in use of eradication therapy and pre‐ and post‐treatment testing for H. pylori.Results 92.6% of doctors believed H. pylori causes duodenal ulcer, with GPs significantly less likely to believe than gastroenterologists (odds ratio [OR], 0.22; 95% confidence interval [Cl], 0.00‐0.81). In duodenal ulcer, 93.4% of doctors believed H. pylori eradication therapy should be given, but fewer (83.4%) claimed to give it “always or mostly”, with GPs less likely to report giving it than gastroenterologists (OR, 0.06; 95% Cl, 0.02‐0.19). For non‐ulcer dyspepsia, gastrointestinal surgeons were more likely than gastroenterologists to believe in a causative link with H. pylori (OR, 5.6; 95% Cl, 3.0‐10.7) and in a need for eradication therapy (OR, 3.6; 95% Cl, 1.7‐7.7). Mostdoctors (79.3%) believed in confirming the presence of H. pylori before eradication therapy in duodenal ulcer. Only 51.6% believed post‐eradication testing necessary (45.5%), yet 79.1% reported performing it. Conclusions Significant differences exist between specialist groups in beliefs and self‐reported behaviours regarding H. pylori.