Assessing readiness for evidence-based practice among healthcare professionals in Egypt

Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) implements individual clinical experience along with the highest accessible clinical evidence. Nowadays, EBP is an essential part of decision-making in many healthcare fields including nursing, pharmacy, and physiotherapy to improve patient care and healthcare outcomes. Literature showed many barriers and considerable gaps between the available scientific evidence and the services provided by healthcare professionals (HCPs). This study aimed to assess the awareness of, attitudes toward, barriers to, and implementation of evidence-based practice among Egyptian healthcare professionals.

A cross-sectional observational study was conducted from April 2023 and February 2024 using an online SurveyMonkey questionnaire targeting physicians, pharmacists, and nurses in primary and secondary care settings in Egypt. The questionnaire was designed based on a literature review, adapted to cultural relevance, and validated to explore awareness, attitudes, practices, and barriers related to EBP.

Among 1396 participants, significant demographic differences were observed. Most pharmacists and nurses were females. Nurses were the youngest while physicians were the most experienced. Most HCPs were aware of EBP and showed positive attitudes towards EBP. However, basic EBP terms and EBP use in decision-making were mostly utilized by physicians followed by pharmacists, while nurses were the least to implement EBP. The most commonly reported barriers were the lack of EBP training courses, the inaccessibility to full-text academic journals due to high cost, and the cost of implementing new treatments in Egypt.

While Egyptian healthcare professionals generally supported the principles of evidence-based practice and recognized its impact in improving patient outcomes, barriers such as limited time, high costs, and restricted access to resources hinder the effective implementation of EBP in Egypt. Positive attitude towards EBP was observed mostly in physicians and pharmacists and to a lesser extent in nurses. Future initiatives should focus on increasing access to EBP resources, integrating EBP training into undergraduate education curricula, and providing support for continuous professional development in evidence-based practices.