Journal of the Colleges of Medicine of South Africa
Family planning knowledge and practices among physicians in academic centres in Johannesburg, South Africa
By Alison B. Rothman, Shastra Bhoora and Jarrod M. Zamparini.
Abstract
Background
Specialists in Internal Medicine may manage women of childbearing age, but data regarding their family planning knowledge and prescribing practices are lacking. This study aimed to assess the family planning knowledge and prescribing practices of Consultants and Trainee Physicians (Registrars) in three academic hospitals in Johannesburg and to identify barriers to effective contraceptive counselling for women with chronic medical conditions.
Methods
A cross-sectional online survey was conducted among Consultants and Registrars in Internal Medicine at the University of the Witwatersrand. Likert-scale items assessed attitudes to contraceptive prescribing, and single-best-answer questions assessed contraceptive knowledge. Descriptive statistics summarised demographics, and Poisson regression identified factors associated with higher scores; p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.