THE PRACTICE OF EVIDENCE BASED MEDICINE AND ITS BARRIERS AMONG PHYSICIANS IN THE GOVERNMENTAL GENERAL HOSPITALS IN MINISTRY OF HEALTH, JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA, 2019

Background: In today’s healthcare, evidence based medicine is considered crucial for providing high quality medical services, improving patient satisfaction and reducing costs. In this respect, physicians are expected to play the chief role. The current study aims at assessment of physicians’ practices of EBM in general hospital in Jeddah, SA and explore barriers of practice. Subjects and methods: Through a cross sectional study design, 386 physicians working in two general hospitals responded to a predesigned self-administered questionnaire reflecting their practice of EMB and barriers of practicing it. SPSS ver.21 was used for statistical analysis including Independent sample t test and ANOVA for significant differences and linear regression for determining predictors. Results: The overwhelming majorities of the physicians are Saudis [95.6%], with dominance of young aged <40 years [78.8%], having experience for <10 years [76%] and mainly working as residents [45.3%].

The significantly highest EBM practicing score was recorded for male physicians [mean ± SD; 26.1 ± 7.71], non-Saudis [mean ± SD; 29.5 ± 5.57], aged 40-<50 years [mean ± SD; 28.0 ± 7.41], who are Board certified [mean ± SD; 27.4±7.07] and those who are working as consultants [mean ± SD; 28.6 ± 6.71] with a consistent increase in the overall mean score with increasing years of experience, it ranged between 23.0 ± 7.50 in physicians who had experience for less than three years up to 27.6 ± 7.65 in those who had experience for more than 20 years. The main reported barriers were lack of training, understanding statistical analysis, ability to critically appraise the literature and insufficient time.

Conclusion: Physicians’ practicing of EBM is still below optimal in general hospitals due to lack of training.