Abstract
Aims: Assessing the knowledge, attitude and educational needs of primary health care physicians.
Method: Cross-sectional study: One hundred and ten physicians were invited to be enrolled in the study and filled out a pre-designed self administered questionnaire in Jeddah City, Saudi Arabia.
Result: It showed that the majority of the physicians (90%) were confronted with less than 10 substance abusers throughout the previous year. Meanwhile, although the majority of the physicians had a reasonable knowledge about the signs and symptoms suggesting presence of substances/drugs abuse, nevertheless about one quarter (23.2%) indicated that they could manage cases of abuse, the majority of the physicians prefer to refer abusers to higher specialized health institutes. Almost two thirds of the physicians (63.9%) indicated that it is necessary to include primary health care centers in the management of substance abusers, and the overwhelming majority (94.5%) agreed that they are in need of training in the field of recognition and management of substances/drugs abuse.
Conclusion: Encouraging perspectives of the physicians were their agreement about the inclusion of PHC centers in the management of the abusers, moreover, the overwhelming majority of them indicated that they are in need of training in the field of recognition and management of substances/drugs abusers.