Physician Perception and Diagnosis of Intestinal Parasitic Infections among Patients with Gastrointestinal Symptoms in Ghana

Table 3

Characteristics of physicians stratified by cadre.

Characteristics	House officers (81) (%)	Medical officers (89) (%)	Specialist (14) (%)	value
Intestinal parasitic infection considered in last patient GI symptoms
Yes	39 (48.1)	38 (42.7)	1 (7.1)
No	42 (51.9)	51 (57.3)	13 (92.9)	0.05
Confirm diagnosis using stool investigation
Yes	22 (27.2)	26 (29.2)	0 (0)
No	59 (72.8)	63 (70.8)	14 (100)	0.1
Frequency of stool R/E request
Always	12 (14.8)	13 (14.6)	1 (7.1)
Often	8 (9.9)	8 (8.9)	0 (0)
Most times	3 (3.7)	7 (7.7)	0 (0)	0.41
Sometimes	38 (46.9)	43 (48.3)	7 (50)
Rarely	18 (22.2)	17 (19.1)	5 (35.7)
Not at all	2 (2.5)	1 (1.1)	1 (7.1)
Any parasite seen from the result of stool R/E
Some	41 (50.6)	58 (65.2)	9 (64.3)
None	40 (49.4)	31 (34.8)	5 (35.7)	0.16
Frequency of encountering patients with GI symptoms
Very often	27 (33.3)	25 (28.1)	2 (14.3)
Often	44 (54.3)	50 (56.2)	9 (64.3)	0.8
Rarely	11 (13.5)	13 (14.6)	3 (21.4)
Not at all	0 (0)	1 (1.1)	0 (0)

Data represented as number (%) of physicians; value significant at ≤0.05. GI = gastrointestinal; R/E = routine examination.