Knowledge of disease notification among doctors in government hospitals in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria.
OBJECTIVE
Notifiable diseases are conditions where regular, frequent and timely reporting of individual cases is considered necessary for the prevention and control of the disease. They can be classified into immediate, routine, international, and occupational notifiable diseases. Despite its importance, notification suffers some setbacks, as shown by worldwide studies. This study was carried out from August to November 1999 to assess the knowledge of disease notification among doctors at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital and Central Hospital, Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria.


METHODS
A cross-sectional study design was used, and a self-administered questionnaire, which was pretested, was used to collect data.


METHODS
All doctors from the University of Benin Teaching Hospital and Central Hospital, Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria were included in the study.


METHODS
In total, 134 doctors participated in the study.


RESULTS
Only 11.9% of doctors had a good knowledge of disease notification. Thirty-one (23.1%) doctors knew where to obtain notification forms, and 32 (23.9%) knew how to complete these forms.


CONCLUSIONS
Knowledge of disease notification among doctors in these major institutions is poor. It has therefore been recommended that quarterly seminars should be conducted to update doctors' knowledge and serve as reminders about disease notification.
Ofili
A N
AN
Department of Community Health, School of Medicine, University of Benin, P.M.B., Benin City 1154, Nigeria. aofili13@yahoo.com
Ugwu
E N
EN
Ziregbe
A
A
Richards
R
R
Salami
S
S
D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D018563:Disease Notification / Q000592:standards*; D005260:Female; D006302:Health Services Research; D006779:Hospitals, Public; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching; D006801:Humans; D019359:Knowledge; D008297:Male; D008505:Medical Staff, Hospital / Q000523:psychology / Q000592:standards*; D009549:Nigeria; D011361:Professional Competence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011996:Records; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires