Pediatricians’ perceptions of clinical practice guidelines

BACKGROUND Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) are propositions for health care providers about the care of patients and are usually described as "systematically developed statements to assist practitioners' and patients' decisions about appropriate health care for specific circumstances". OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to investigate pediatricians' perceptions of clinical practice guidelines at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) in Qatar. METHODS A cross-sectional study was conducted at HMC between May 1 and August 31, 2013 using a self-administered questionnaire that was distributed to 240 pediatricians. RESULTS A total of 169/240 questionnaires were completed for a response rate of 70.4%. Our main finding was that pediatricians at all levels are familiar with CPGs and use them. In addition, our doctors believe that CPGs lead to good quality of care, are practical, provide standardized patient care, will keep them up-to-date, decrease the rate of litigation, are evidence-based, do not restrict continuity of self-education, do not alter physician esteem, lead to improvement of outcome, and are practical. However, barriers that might impede pediatricians' use of CPGs are that CPGs affect their clinical judgment, do not match with their practice style, and do not reduce health care costs. CONCLUSIONS Pediatricians at HMC have positive perceptions of CPGs. The results of our study suggest that CPGs are likely to be implemented if more counseling and education are provided to pediatricians regarding the usefulness of evidence-based guidelines. In addition, a program should be initialized to remove barriers while simultaneously addressing physicians' concerns.