Physicians' knowledge of the epidemiology, diagnosis, and management of otitis media: design of a survey instrument.
OBJECTIVE
To develop a survey instrument with good internal consistency and test-retest reliability to explore the level of knowledge among Nova Scotia family physicians concerning the risk factors, signs and symptoms, and treatment of otitis media and the use of pneumatic otoscopy.


METHODS
Prospective cohort design.


METHODS
Fee-for-service family practices in Nova Scotia.


METHODS
A convenience sample of 25 family physicians.


METHODS
Test-retest reliability and internal consistency of the survey.


RESULTS
The constructs including "signs and symptoms of otitis media with effusion" and "comprehensive knowledge scores" showed excellent internal consistency with Kuder-Richardson 20 scores greater than 0.7 whereas the construct "signs and symptoms of acute otitis media" has a Kuder-Richardson 20 score of 0.54 after deletion of several items. The Cohen kappa and Spearman rho tests showed the survey has very good test-retest reliability.


CONCLUSIONS
The questionnaire that we developed proved to have very good internal consistency and test-retest reliability. We hope to use this questionnaire to explore the practice patterns of family physicians in managing otitis media disease.
Lee
Ambrose
A
ENT Department, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS, 2nd Floor, Lambeth Wing, St Thomas' Hospital, London, UK. alee2@dal.ca
Flowerdew
Gordon
G
Delaney
Mary
M
D002983:Clinical Competence; D005194:Family Practice / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007327:Insufflation; D008297:Male; D009674:Nova Scotia; D010033:Otitis Media / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*; D019720:Otoscopes; D010821:Physicians, Family; D010865:Pilot Projects; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000379:methods; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012107:Research Design; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires