title: Reasons for underreporting of notifiable diseases by Syrian paediatricians.
abstract: We investigated reasons for underreporting of notifiable diseases among Syrian paediatricians. Self-administered questionnaires and self-addressed envelopes were sent to all paediatricians listed in the recent records of the Syrian Medical Association. Of 723 questionnaires, 55 were returned by the post office due to an incorrect address. Only 160 questionnaires (23.9%) were answered. Approximately 50% of paediatricians gave two reasons for underreporting: lack of reporting forms and ignorance of reporting telephone numbers. Nearly 70% indicated that the most important improvements would be the availability of easy reporting forms and a condensed and feasible list of notifiable diseases.
authors.affiliation: Directorate of Communicable Diseases, Ministry of Health, Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Al-Laham
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Khoury
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bashour
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D018563:Disease Notification / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004282:Documentation / Q000592:standards; D005568:Forms and Records Control; D019983:Guideline Adherence / Q000592:standards; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D009042:Motivation; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000193:education / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011159:Population Surveillance; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013593:Syria; D017749:Total Quality Management