Knowledge and Attitudes towards the Primary Care Award among Primary Care Unit Personnel in Lampang Province

Abstract

Background: The Ministry of Public Health had implemented criterion of the Primary Care Award (PCA) in Lampang province for improving quality of primary cares units since fiscal year 2012. Most of them passed the assessment but administrative problems still remained.
Objective: To assess the knowledge and attitudes towards the PCA criterion among the personnel working in primary care units in Lampang province.
Material and method: A cross-sectional study was conducted by sending questionnaires to 290 personnel who worked in 145 primary care units in Lampang during 16th August - 15th September, 2013. The data about knowledge and attitudes towards the PCA criterion were collected and analyzed by using descriptive statistics and Chi-square test.
Results: There were 252 replied questionnaires (86.9%). Among these, two-thirds were female and the mean age was 39.9 ± 9.5 years (range, 20-60), 43.6% working as the director of primary care unit, 26.8% were nurses and 14.8% were public health academics. Two-thirds of them had moderate knowledge level and 58% had good attitudes about the PCA criterion. The proportions
of high and medium acknowledged personnel was found higher in trained than non-trained personnel but not significantly different (p=0.243). Working positions, working age in civil service and working duration in current workplace had no correlation with attitudes towards the PCA (p=0.915, 0.093 and 0.066 respectively). There was statistically significant correlation between higher level of personnel knowledge and positive attitudes (p=0.002).
Conclusion: Two-thirds of personnel working in 145 Lampang primary care units had moderate level of knowledge about the PCA quality criterion and 58% had good attitudes. There was statistically significant correlation between personnel knowledge and attitudes towards the PCA.