Table 3. Association of physician’s characteristics and knowledge regarding diarrhea with rationality of fluid management and laboratory testing practices while treating diarrhea cases (N a = 264).
| Practitioners' characteristics and knowledge regarding diarrhea (domain-wise and as a whole) | Categories | Rationality of commonly administered IV fluid for the correction of severe dehydration | Rationality of commonly advised laboratory test for diagnosis of causative organism | Rationality of laboratory testing strategy for the diagnosis of causative organism | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OR b (95% CI c ) | p values | OR b (95% CI c ) | p values | OR b (95% CI c ) | p values | |||
| Category of the practitioner | General | 3.75(1.75–8.02) | <0.001 | 3.30(1.67–6.48) | <0.001 | 4.36(2.02–9.41) | <0.001 | |
| (Reference = Non-qualified) | Specialist | 2.72(1.19–6.24) | 0.018 | 3.95(1.95–8.00) | <0.001 | 5.02(2.27–11.11) | <0.001 | |
| Duration of practice (Reference: <10yrs) | ≥10yrs | 0.79(0.39–1.54) | 0.472 | 1.52(0.80–2.92) | 0.204 | 1.59(0.77–3.29) | 0.212 | |
| Attached to which type of healthcare facility? (Reference = None) | Private sector | 3.74(1.10–12.65) | 0.034 | 1.81(0.80–4.12) | 0.156 | 2.92(0.99–8.58) | 0.052 | |
| Govt. sector | 6.97(1.44–33.68) | 0.016 | 6.59(1.90–22.88) | 0.003 | 11.25(2.73–46.35) | <0.001 | ||
| Knowledge of the participating physicians regarding | Signs & symptoms of diarrheal diseases (Reference = Worst) | Better | 1.65(0.78–3.51) | 0.193 | 1.04(0.56–1.92) | 0.896 | 1.56(0.78–3.13) | 0.211 |
| Best | 3.00(1.22–7.41) | 0.017 | 1.62(0.73–3.58) | 0.232 | 2.05(0.85–4.96) | 0.110 | ||
| Occurrence and spread of diarrhea (Reference = Worst) | Better | 1.39(0.59–3.29) | 0.457 | 1.24(0.63–2.41) | 0.536 | 1.36(0.63–2.94) | 0.433 | |
| Best | 3.57(1.51–8.47) | 0.004 | 1.56(0.75–3.26) | 0.233 | 2.23(0.99–5.01) | 0.052 | ||
| Management of diarrhea (Reference = Worst) | Better | 1.53(0.75–3.12) | 0.243 | 2.00(1.08–3.70) | 0.028 | 2.28(1.14–4.57) | 0.021 | |
| Best | 1.88(0.78–4.53) | 0.163 | 1.83(0.82–4.08) | 0.138 | 2.29(0.96–5.49) | 0.063 | ||
| Prevention and control of diarrhea (Reference = Worst) | Better | 9.89(2.24–43.62) | 0.003 | 1.85(0.76–4.49) | 0.175 | 1.47(0.57–3.81) | 0.428 | |
| Best | 4.89(1.10–21.83) | 0.037 | 2.67(1.15–6.22) | 0.023 | 2.14(0.87–5.26) | 0.097 | ||
| Cholera as a whole (Reference = Worst) | Better | 1.51(0.70–3.23) | 0.295 | 0.88(0.44–1.78) | 0.722 | 0.89(0.40–1.98) | 0.773 | |
| Best | 1.83(0.84–3.97) | 0.127 | 1.80(0.92–3.50) | 0.086 | 2.34(1.15–4.75) | 0.019 | ||
| Oral rehydration solution and its use (Reference = Worst) | Better | 1.03(0.50–2.12) | 0.940 | 0.79(0.43–1.47) | 0.458 | 0.94(0.48–1.86) | 0.861 | |
| Best | 2.55(1.10–5.91) | 0.029 | 1.88(0.87–4.03) | 0.107 | 2.03(0.89–4.60) | 0.091 | ||
| Diarrhea as a whole (Reference = Worst) | Better | 1.36(0.61–3.01) | 0.452 | 1.97(1.04–3.72) | 0.037 | 2.36(1.15–4.84) | 0.020 | |
| Best | 4.57(2.03–10.27) | <0.001 | 2.19(1.03–4.64) | 0.041 | 2.68(1.17–6.15) | 0.020 | ||
a N = Total number of participating physicians.
b OR = Odds ratio.
c 95%CI = 95% Confidence Interval.