Point of Care Testing: Knowledge and Utilization amongst Doctors in Government Hospitals in Edo State, Nigeria

Abstract

Objective: The study assessed the knowledge and utilization of point of care testing (POCT) amongst doctors in two health facilities in Edo State, Nigeria.

Methods: A descriptive cross‑sectional study was carried out using a multistage sampling technique. Data were collected from 174 doctors in both centers using a 25 item structured questionnaire which was analyzed using SPSS version 20.0.

Result: The mean age of respondents was 31.26 ± 2.14 years with 120 (69.0%) males and 54 (31.0%) females (male: female = 2.2:1). Knowledge of POCT and utilization of POCT devices was good in 50.6% and 32.2% of respondents respectively. Utilization of POCT correlated significantly with knowledge of POCT (r = 0.67, P < 0.001) and availability of POCT devices (r = 0.43, P < 0.001). There was statistically significant association between utilization of POCT devices and Hospital (χ² = 9.95, P = 0.002); job designation (χ² = 10.03, P = 0.018) and availability of POCT devices (χ² = 6.80, P = 0.001). However, no statistically significant relationship was found between utilization of POCT devices and sex (χ² = 0.23, P = 0.629).

Conclusion: Promotion of POCT’s utilization with regulation, training of doctors and establishment of regulatory framework/assessment teams will help improve healthcare services and achieve more beneficial outcomes. That way, POCT that is faster could be better.

Keywords: Availability, Knowledge, Point of Care Testing, Utilization