title: Evaluation of physicians' awareness of pediatric diseases in iran.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Physicians' awareness about pediatric health problems is very important in health system. This has not been investigated in Iran as yet. Therefore this study was conducted to characterize the knowledge of the Iranian physicians which has direct association with health status of children.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred and four physicians, mainly pediatric specialists (58.6%) working in the state hospitals (45.1%) were enrolled. They filled a valid and reliable questionnaire, containing 26 questions about basic and important pediatric issues before and after an educational pediatric program (EPP). Findings : Thirty nine (37.5%) physicians answered correctly more than 2/3 of all questions (passed the examination) before EPP, which increased to 42.3% after EEP. Subgroup analysis showed that the total scores of general practitioners (P=0.007) was significantly increased after the EPP. Moreover, physicians with shorter practicing time (P=0.006) and those with shorter time past graduation (P=0.01) had a significant improvement in their total scores after the program. The best scores of educational issues were documented in growth and development (16.0%; P=0.04), followed by dermatology (9.2%, P=0.04), urology (9.1%; P=0.04), and asthma and allergy (9.0%, P=0.04).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study revealed that there are gaps in the knowledge of professionals about the pediatric issues.
authors: Research Center for Immunodeficiencies ; Division of Clinical Immunology, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Karolinska Institute at Karolinska University Hospital Huddinge, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors: Hassan
authors: H
authors: Abolhassani
authors: Research Center for Immunodeficiencies.
authors: Babak
authors: B
authors: Mirminachi
authors: Research Center for Immunodeficiencies.
authors: Maedeh
authors: M
authors: Daryabeigi
authors: Research Center for Immunodeficiencies.
authors: Zahra
authors: Z
authors: Agharahimi
authors: Research Center for Immunodeficiencies.
authors: Asghar
authors: A
authors: Aghamohammadi
authors: Growth and Development Research Center, Children's Medical Center.
authors: Ali
authors: A
authors: Rabbani
authors: Research Center for Immunodeficiencies ; Molecular Immunology Research Center; and Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors: Nima
authors: N
authors: Rezaei
keywords: Health Status of Children; Pediatrics; Physicians’ Knowledge