Evaluation of knowledge levels of family medicine residents trained in Ankara on the diagnosis and treatment of thyroid diseases

Introduction and Objective: Thyroid diseases are very common in the society, and they generally present with nonspecific symptoms and progress with various metabolic effects. Evaluation of thyroid diseases is made with anamnesis, physical examination, biochemical tests and imaging techniques. In addition, there is a screening program for thyroid diseases in our country, which is an iodine deficiency region. Family physicians play an important role in the diagnosis and treatment of thyroid diseases in primary care. The aim of our study is to evaluate the knowledge level of family medicine residents who are trained in Ankara about the diagnosis and treatment of thyroid diseases which can cause serious consequences when not diagnosed/treated, and to increase the awareness of physicians on this issue. Materials and Methods: Our study was planned as a cross-sectional study. The population of the study consists of family medicine residents who were training in Ankara between 01.01.2021-01.03.2021. 227 assistant physicians participated in our study voluntarily. The research data were collected by the researcher through a questionnaire form created by scanning the literature and taking the opinions of experts. Participants were asked 9 questions containing 60 propositional statements about the diagnosis and treatment of thyroid diseases, which can be answered as no/yes/no idea. The data were analyzed in SPSS 23.0 package program, P significance value was accepted as <0,05. Results: Of the 227 physicians participating in our study, 72,2% (n=164) were female and 27,8% (n=63) were male. While 77,1% (n = 175) of the physicians participating in the study were full-time family medicine residents, 22,9% (n=52) were residents of contracted family medicine residents. The mean age of the participants was found to be 31,20±6,56 years. The average duration of residency was 2,40±1,41 years, while the average time spent in the profession was 6,48±6,34 years. 25,99% of the physicians considered their level of knowledge about the diagnosis and treatment of thyroid diseases sufficient. The rate of those who considered their knowledge level partially sufficient was 62,56%. The average score obtained by all physicians from a total of 60 questions based on knowledge was found to be 47,96±5,79. It was observed that the total score obtained from the questionnaire increased significantly (p <0.001) as the physicians' assessment of their level of knowledge increased. Total knowledge scores of residents who gained knowledge on thyroid diseases through academic texts (articles/guidelines) (p<0.001), training during residency (p=0.001) and congresses/symposiums (p=0.021) and using guidelines on this subject (p<0.001), their internal medicine/endocrinology rotation (p<0.001) were found to be statistically significantly higher than other physicians. There was a significant positive weak correlation between the level of knowledge of the physicians and the time they spent in family medicine residency. 85,9% of the participants knew that TSH was sufficient as a screening test in the evaluation of thyroid diseases. Conclusion: Correct answer rate for all questions directed to family medicine residents was found to be 79,99%. Although this result is quite high compared to studies conducted abroad, family physicians play an active role in the diagnosis and treatment of thyroid diseases and their knowledge level should be higher. The positive contribution of residency training, keeping up with academic texts/guidelines, congresses/symposiums, and internal medicine/endocrinology rotation during the residency period on the knowledge level of family physicians on this subject can be seen in the results of our study. In this respect, it is necessary to increase knowledge and awareness about these diseases with both theoric and practical training in family medicine residency training. Keywords: Thyroid, Family Practice, Hypothyroidism, Hyperthyroidism