Barriers to doctors participation in public health care

Back ground: Research activities are increasing in all the fields of medicine including dentistry but there is dearth of information about the knowledge, attitude and behavior of dental professionals for ethical principles in research, especially in the developing countries like India. Introduction: Public Health Professionals and doctors play a very significant role in promoting and improving the health of the community. But there are some barriers that hinder them from participating. Aim: The ultimate aim of this study is to acquire knowledge about the barriers that doctors face while participating in Public Health Care. Material and method: A short-span study was conducted in Wardha, Maharashtra. A self-administered based study was done among 500 participants which comprised of 257 females and 243 males of different health professions. The questionnaire consisted of demographic details like age, gender and sex. The questions were close ended and they comprised of various questions. Chi square test was used to perform statistical analysis and level of significance was set at p< 0.05. Result: The main method used was self-administered questionnaires with sample characteristics of 51.4% female and 48.6% male. The age distribution of the participants ranges from 25 years and above with the largest age group being 18-39 years (73.3%), followed by 40-60 years age group (25.3%) and 60 years and above (1.3%). The participants have various qualifications with 30.2% being MDS, 33.2% BDS, 16.2% MBBS, 8.6% MD/MS and 11.8% BAMS. 25-30% of male and female participants and 15-35% of participants from different qualifications stated that they sometimes encountered language problems. . 36-37% of the male and female participants and 27-43% of participants from different qualifications felt that patients follow their instructions and give proper feedback only sometimes. 33-35% of male and female participants and 25-45% of participants from different qualifications finds it difficult to explain the disease or treatment plan to people with prejudiced mind. Also 30-33% of male and female participants and 30-40% of participants from different qualifications find difficulties in working with people of different traditions and cultures which add up to the cultural and traditional barrier. Majority of participants that is 38-40% of male and female participants and 30-60% of participants from different qualifications felt that physically or mentally challenged patients creates barriers to their participation. Conclusion: Result showed that interpersonal barrier and cultural and traditional barriers are the common barrier faced by the health professionals followed by communication barrier. Working with physically and mentally challenged patient also cause barrier in doctors’ participation.