Awareness of obstructive sleep apnea among critical care physicians in Sharkia Governorate, Egypt

Background Patients with symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) present to nearly all physicians irrespective of their specialties. A basic knowledge of OSA is considered essential to identify those patients for appropriate referral and treatment. This study aimed to assess the knowledge and attitude of Sharkia Governorate Critical Care physicians regarding OSA using a standard validated questionnaire. Results This cross-sectional survey study was performed on a sample of Sharkia Governorate physicians, from all critical care units in tertiary and secondary hospitals including the following specialties: chest, internal medicine, neurology, cardiology, pediatric, and anesthesia. The OSA knowledge and attitudes (OSAKA) questionnaire that consists of 18 knowledge assessment questions and the OSA attitude questionnaire that consists of 6 attitude assessment questions were used. A total of 231, out of 296 invited physicians, completed the given questionnaire with a response rate of 78%. The mean score for knowledge assessment was 10.05 +/- 2.3 with a 33.3% adequate response, while the mean score for attitude assessment was 3.75 +/- 1.22 with a 59.3% adequate response. The mean OSA knowledge (12.5 +/- 2.42) and attitude (5 +/- 0.78) scores were highest among chest physicians when compared to physicians from other specialties (p < 0.001). A significant positive correlation between knowledge and attitude scores was found among Sharkia Governorate critical care physicians (r = 0.55, p < 0.001). Conclusions The level of knowledge of OSA among Sharkia Governorate critical care physicians was far from optimal whereas the attitude regarding OSA was acceptable.