Knowledge, Practice and Attitudes to the Management of Sepsis in Jamaica

Sepsis is a life-threatening dysfunction resulting from the dysregulated host response to infection. The mortality of sepsis in Jamaica remains high amid the proven efficacy of the Surviving Sepsis Guidelines implementation in some countries.

To evaluate the inter-relationship of healthcare workers' attitude towards, knowledge of and practice of sepsis management in Jamaica.

A survey was done using an anonymous self-administered validated questionnaire to healthcare workers across Jamaica. Questions on knowledge, attitude, and practice of sepsis within private and public hospitals were answered.

A total of 616 healthcare workers were eligible for analysis. Most respondents agree that healthcare workers need more training on sepsis (93.7%) and that formal sepsis training modules should be implemented at their hospitals or practice (93.2%). Several signs of sepsis as outlined by qSOFA were correctly identified as such by most respondents (60.6% to 76.4%), with the exception of a low PaCO2 (34.9%), which was correctly identified by a minority of respondents. While a majority (69.3%) were able to correctly define sepsis, only 8.8% of respondents knew the annual sepsis mortality rate. Postgraduate training (p<0.01) and formal sepsis training (p<0.05) were both predictive of high correct knowledge and practice scores. Specialization in Anaesthesia/ Critical Care Medicine (p<0.05) or Emergency Medicine (p<0.05) was predictive of high knowledge scores and Internal Medicine predictive of high practice scores (p<0.01).

This study revealed that education for healthcare workers on sepsis and the implementation of SSC is needed in Jamaica.