Physicians working in the field of pediatric trauma (namely those who work in emergency services, pediatrics and pediatric surgery departments; who are consulted regarding pediatric traumas; and those for whom pediatric trauma patients constitute the majority of their patient spectrum) were enrolled in the survey. A questionnaire was administered to elicit the demographic data, features of pediatric trauma in their practice, self-perception of pediatric trauma knowledge, estimation of trauma severity, parameters used for pediatric trauma diagnosis, and perception of pediatric trauma score (PTS) and trauma cost.
A total of 103 physicians responded to the questionnaire (median age: 30.8 ± 5.6 years; range: 24–56). Of the 103 respondents, 49 were males (47.6%) and 54 were females (52.4%). Physicians responding to the questionnaire were specialists in Pediatrics (32.9%), Pediatric Surgeons (5.9%), Emergency Medicine Specialists (2.9%), and residents (47.6%) in those three disciplines in University Hospitals, Public Hospitals and Research Hospitals. Physicians reported falls (58.1%) as the most common cause of trauma, and noted head injuries with an incidence of 49.9% in their trauma practice. Physicians’ self-perception of their pediatric trauma knowledge was questioned in three categories as: overall, diagnosis and treatment of trauma. They reported that their knowledge of pediatric trauma overall and regarding diagnosis and treatment was “efficient” at rates of 87.4%, 83.6% and 74.8%, respectively. However, while 76.7% of physicians perform radiological evaluations in all trauma patients, only 56.3% of them use laboratory tests routinely in diagnosis. Participants reported that cost of trauma was mostly affected by severity of trauma (49.5%) and least affected by the patient’s sex (64.1%). They also believed that radiologic evaluations (66%) accounted for the largest portion of trauma cost and the cost of consultations (44.7%) for the smallest portion.
In conclusion, we suggest that although most physicians were aware of cost factors in trauma, they did not consider trauma costs in diagnosis and management.
Keywords : trauma cost, children, physicians, perception, attitude.