Evaluation of attitudes and thoughts of medical specialty residents of Akdeniz University Medical Faculty on Rational laboratory use

Evaluation of Attitudes and Thoughts of Medical Specialty Residents of Akdeniz University Medical Faculty on Rational Laboratory Use Objective: This study aims to understand the opinions of medical specialty residents about the rational use of laboratory tests and their perspective on the possible practices that can reduce unnecessary investigations and to draw attention to these issues. Method: This cross-sectional and descriptive study was conducted by surveying medical specialty residents of Akdeniz University Medical Faculty Hospital between April-August 2020. 160 residents were included in the study. In the study, the "Survey for Evaluating the Attitudes and Thoughts of Residents on Rational Laboratory Use" was used. The results were evaluated with the help of SPSS 20.0 (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) software. To define the sample, continuous variables were specified as median (minimum-maximum), and categorical variables were specified with number and percentage. The difference of the percentages of the categorical variables was analyzed with the Pearson Chi-Square test and if more than 20% of the expected frequencies were less than 5, Fisher's Exact Test was used. P <0.05 value was considered significant. In order to evaluate the internal consistency of the survey, the Cronbach Alpha value was calculated and found as 0.782. This value shows that the prepared survey is consistent. Results: Consisted of 95 women (59.4%) and 65 men (40.6%), a total of 160 residents participated in the study. The age range of the participants was 24-49 with an average of 28. 88 of the participants (55%) had spent less than two years in the specialty, and 72 (45%) of them had spent more than two years. The statement that was most agreed upon by the participants was "I think that additional training on laboratory examinations would reduce unnecessary tests.", with the partial agreement of 63 people (39.4%) and full agreement of 71 people (44.4%). The statement that was most agreed upon by the participants about the causes of unnecessary tests was "I tend to order more tests because of legal concerns and fear of malpractice.", with the partial agreement of 63 people (39.4%) and full agreement of 71 people (44.4%). When the answers were evaluated according to the gender and experience in the specialty of participants, significant difference was not found in most of the questions. Conclusion: According to the residents in the medical specialty units of our hospital, the main reasons leading them to unnecessary laboratory tests are respectively the concern of malpractice and the patients' requests; overtesting will not contribute to the shortening of the patients' length of stay, physical examination is more valuable than laboratory tests and patients can't be diagnosed faster by requesting more tests. Physicians participating in our study state that they are open to educational sessions about what can be done about rational use of laboratory tests, but they do not lean towards system-based changes. By disseminating similar studies, physicians' opinions about changes in laboratory tests can be obtained, which can help the adaptation of physicians to these changes and improve the awareness of healthcare professionals about rational use of laboratory tests. Key Words: Rational Use of Laboratory Tests, Overtesting