Changes in Hungarian family physicians’ knowledge and attitudes regarding sleep apnoea over the past 15 years. What difficulties do they have in screening car drivers for OSAS?

Peter Torzsa, Dalma Csatlos, Gergely Torzsa, Laura Dalnoki, Balint Tripolszky

Keywords: sleep apnoea, attitude, theoretical knowledge, family doctor, OSAKA

Background:

General practitioners (GPs) have an important role in the screening and care of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). Late detection can lead to serious cardiovascular, cardiorespiratory, neurological and other complications and accidents.

Research questions:

To assess changes in Hungarian GPs’ knowledge of and attitudes towards sleep apnoea over 15 years, 2008, 2017 and 2023. Whether there has been a change in the attitudes of GPs since the introduction of the 2015 legislation requiring GPs to screen car drivers for OSA.

Method:

In our cross-sectional study, sociodemographic data were recorded among 950 GPs, and the validated OSAKA questionnaire was used to assess their knowledge about OSA.

Results:

The knowledge of Hungarian GPs about sleep apnoea improved significantly over the last 15 years (score 12.1±2.7 vs 14.0±1.9). The mean score of female physicians was significantly higher than that of male physicians in 2023 (14.4±1.6 vs 13.3±2.5. p<0.001). The number of specialisations increased the mean score, the more specialisations a physician had, the higher the score, with 13.4±1.6 vs 13.3±2.5. 8±1.8 points.
In our regression model, we found an inverse correlation between the physician’s age and BMI and knowledge of sleep apnoea, with a positive correlation between the number of specialisations and practice location. While 86% of family doctors consider it important to identify patients suspected of having sleep apnoea, 45% are confident about treating the condition. We found an improvement in the OSA importance attitude question (A1-2) for both genders, with a significantly higher score in 2023 compared to 2017, 4.6±0.8 for women and 4.3±0.9 for men.

Conclusions:

GPs’ knowledge of sleep apnoea has improved a lot in recent years, and they emphasize the importance of early disease detection. They are uncertain about the management of OSA, which they believe is due to the limited capacity of sleep laboratories and the inadequate number of nurses in the practice.

Points for discussion:

How can we improve the attitude of family doctors towards OSA screening?

How should OSA be screened in primary care?

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