[Knowledge and attitudes about aspirin exacerbated respiratory disease among Ecuadorian physicians]

Aspirin-exacerbated respiratory disease (AERD) is an asthma phenotype that involves high costs and significant burden for health systems.

To determine the level of knowledge and attitudes towards AERD among Ecuadorian physicians.

Descriptive, observational study. A questionnaire about knowledge on the disease and attitude towards it (confidence in the treatment and importance of AERD, measured with a Likert scale) was developed. The answers about knowledge were dichotomized into right and wrong; attitude was rated as high or low. Means and percentages were obtained; the answers of doctors with or without specialty were compared using the chi-square test.

One-hundred eighteen physicians participated. The age was 41.3 ± 11.7 years; 48.3 % were specialists. Less than 50% answered correctly the questions about knowledge. Specialist physicians obtained more correct answers regarding first symptoms, prevalence and leukotriene overproduction (67.9 %, 46.3% and 90.7 %), when compared with general practitioners (45.0 %, 25% and 74.6 %) (p < 0.05). More than 70 % of physicians indicated high confidence in the identification of patients with AERD. There were no significant differences in attitudes (p > 0.05).

Medical education programs should be developed in order to improve the level of knowledge about AERD.