The assessment of physicians’ knowledge of community-acquired pneumonia basics: KNOCAP study

Objective: To assess physicians’ level of knowledge in clinical picture, diagnosis and treatment of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) and its comparison with national clinical standards. Material and Methods: Multicenter research (KNOCAP study) was conducted in Russian and Ukrainian cities Belgorod, Saratov, Dnipro, Voronezh, Chelyabinsk, Tambov, Lipetsk and Kuban’ Region during 2017-2018. We assessed 255 physicians in the knowledge of CAP basics by asking them to complete a questionnaire (14 questions). Results: The average level of correct answers totaled 49.6%, and varied from 39.9% to 58.2% in different centers. The most difficult questions were related to an optimal time for control (repeated) X-ray examination on top of positive dynamics of CAP treatment (20.5% of correct answers), CAP main diagnostic character (38.2%), optimal initial CAP therapy in patients without risk factors (24.9%) and patients with risk factors (17.5%); only 34.9% of the physicians surveyed correctly reported typical mistakes in the treatment of a non-severe CAP. The maximum numbers of correct answers were given on the following questions: postpone reasons for CAP antibiotic therapy (85.8%), the efficiency of pneumococcal and influenza vaccination (82.9%), CAP main pathogens (63.8%) and “inaccurate/ amphibolic” diagnosis of CAP in the absence of X-ray examination (62.6%). Conclusions: The results gained in the survey revealed the insufficient level of physicians’ knowledge in management of patients with CAP. On the one hand, a number of issues need to be considered more carefully, on the other hand, educational activities have to be conducted among physicians of medical and preventive treatment facilities.