Knowledge of disease notification among doctors in Government hospitals in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria

Study objective. Notifiable diseases are conditions where regular, frequent and timely reporting of individual cases is considered necessary for the prevention and control of the disease. They can be classified into immediate, routine, international, and occupational notifiable diseases. Despite its importance, notification suffers some setbacks, as shown by worldwide studies. This study was carried out from August to November 1999 to assess the knowledge of disease notification among doctors at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital and Central Hospital, Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria. Design. A cross-sectional. study design was used, and a self-administered questionnaire, which was pretested, was used to collect data. Setting. All doctors from the University of Benin Teaching Hospital and Central Hospital, Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria were included in the study. Participants. In total, 134 doctors participated in the study. Main result. Only 11.9% of doctors had a good knowledge of disease notification. Thirty-one (23.1%) doctors knew where to obtain notification forms, and 32 (23.9%) knew how to complete these forms. Conclusion. Knowledge of disease notification among doctors in these major institutions is poor. It has therefore been recommended that quarterly seminars should be conducted to update doctors' knowledge and serve as reminders about disease notification. (C) 2002 The Royal Institute of Public Health. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.