Abstract:

Objective   To include and analyze the knowledge and attitudes about obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome(OSAHS)in the clinicians of departments of Otolaryngology. Methods   A validated questionnaire from the USA, the “Obstructive Sleep Apnea Knowledge and Attitudes Questionnaire(OSAKA)” was used. The questionnaire was mailed to ENT doctors in 41 public hospitals in Shandong Province. Results   334 valid questionnaires(95.70%)were returned. The correction rate in average of all knowledge items were 78%. Among them, 61.38% clinicians mistakenly thought the“Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty is curative for the majority of patients with obstructive sleep apnea”. Only 41.02%(0.41±0.49)doctors could correctly answered the question“OSAHS in female can only present as fatigue”. About 50.90%(0.51±0.50) of responders knew “Less than five apneas or hypopneas per hour is normal in adults”. More scored on the knowledge OSAKA portion of pathophysiology, but were limited in OSAHS treatment. More than 95% of the participants stated that“As a clinical disorder OSAHS is important or extremely important and it is important to identify patients at risk for obstructive sleep apnea”. However, among them, only 70% felt confident in diagnosis and less than 60% felt confident in managing OSAHS patients. Individual knowledge items did not significantly differ by gender or by whether or not respondents had completed subspecialty training. There was a statistically significant correlation between the total knowledge scores with age and the years in practice. More knowledge was associated with more positive attitudes overall and older in age or longer years in practice. Conclusions   The importance of OSAHS to clinicians of Otlaryngologic departments is well known. It is a key step to recommend that the knowledge and positive attitudes through more continuous education focusing on the diagnosis and treatment and identifying at risk for OSAHS are elevated.

Key words: Sleep apnea, obstructive； Otolaryngology； Knowledge； Attitudes