title: Knowledge and attitudes about intrauterine devices among women's health care providers in El Salvador.
abstract: In order to gain an understanding of Salvadoran health care providers' clinical knowledge, attitudes, and practice toward the intrauterine device (IUD), Ministry of Health providers completed a self-administered, anonymous survey. Surveys were completed by 135 participants. The majority (94.7% and 97.0%) agreed the IUD is a safe and effective form of contraception. Only 46.6% of participants had ever received training in IUD placement, and 32.0% of them had ever inserted more than 10 IUDs. The majority of providers (54.2%) believed that the IUD was associated with a higher rate of infection than is described in the literature. Lack of formal training and knowledge about persistent infection rates associated with IUDs may contribute to low IUD placement by Salvadoran providers. Health care providers surveyed are open to learning more about the IUD and sharing the information with their patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Research Sciences, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
authors.forename: Heather Lyn
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Hohmann
authors.forename: Miriam L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Cremer
authors.forename: Enrique
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gonzalez
authors.forename: Mauricio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Maza
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003267:Contraception / Q000379:methods; D004544:El Salvador; D004869:Equipment Safety; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007434:Intrauterine Devices / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D009726:Nurses / Q000523:psychology; D000292:Pelvic Inflammatory Disease / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D010820:Physicians / Q000523:psychology; D011364:Professional Practice / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016387:Women's Health; D055815:Young Adult