Knowledge and practices of general practitioners regarding asthma in southern Morocco

Introduction: Asthma is a public health problem because of its frequency and the difficulties in its management. International recommendations have been established to better manage asthmatic disease and reduce morbidity.

The aim of our work is to evaluate the knowledge and practices of general practitioners regarding asthma.

Material and methods: This was a descriptive and cross-sectional survey of general practitioners in the south of Morocco, practicing in the private and public sector, to assess their knowledge and management of asthma patients. Data collection was done using a web questionnaire on the Google Forms platform.

Results: The total number of general practitioners who responded to our questionnaire was 180. Men represented 64.4% of the participants. Physicians in private practice represented 33.9% of the respondents. All general practitioners relied on questioning and 86.7% on clinical examination in the diagnosis of asthma. 87.2% of the respondents also requested complementary examinations, especially chest X-ray and skin tests. According to the majority of physicians, exposure to allergens and viral respiratory infections were the main factors in exacerbations. Short-acting beta-2-agonists were the background treatment for 62.4% of the physicians. Among respondents 63.9% did not know the GINA classification. The follow-up and monitoring of asthma patients, for 94% of the physicians, was based on the level of control. 

Conclusion: Our study has shown that general practitioners have some lack of theoretical knowledge. On the other hand, there is a gap between practice and GINA recommendations.