Saudi Journal of Medicine (SJM)
Volume-10 | Issue-01 | 21-28
Original Research Article
Identifying Opportunities and Barriers to Enhance Research among Family Physicians in Iraq; A Cross-sectional Survey 2021
Malath Majeed Hamood, Abdul-Munem Y. Al-Dabbagh
Published : Jan. 24, 2025
Abstract
Background: Family Medicine research is any study that addresses questions of importance to physicians with the intent to improve the care of patients. Research is essential to enhance the role of family physicians in health care systems, to improve the optimal functioning of health care systems, and to improve the health of populations in general, also serve as the basis to aid in policy-making. Aim: This study aimed to highlight the willingness of family physicians towards conducting research. Subjects and Method: Descriptive cross-sectional study with an analytic element conducted for a period from the 1st of March through the 31st of May 2021. The target population included all family physicians in Iraq. A total of 297 participants were recruited for this study. Participants were asked to fill out an electronically distributed questionnaire specially constructed for the sake of the study. Results: Females constituted 79% of the sample and 82% of the participants were less than or equal to 40 years of age. The specialists in family medicine constituted 70% of the participants; 81.5% had medical experience less than or equal to 15 years, and 52.9% worked for more than 30 hours per week. The mean of the participant response regarding the attitude questionnaire was 45.03 (±9.21). The participants with a positive attitude were 167 (56.2%). Applying multivariate binary logistic regression, the only significant association was between attitude and frequency of reading medical articles. Lack of time was the main stated barrier that obstacles to research conduction among family physicians. Conclusion: More than half of the participants had a positive attitude towards research conduction. Lack of time and health care support were the main barriers to research conduction. Increasing the frequency of research reading was the main predictor of research conduction.