PHYSICIAN PERCEPTION ON COMMON HAND CONDITION, AND THEIR REFERRAL PATTERN

Background:Several hand conditions have an overlap in term of management by surgeons from different departments. They usually rely on referrals from general health providers. Suitable referral depends on the knowledge and understanding of the referring physicians to the problem and the best available treatment. Recently the number of referrals and operations of elective hand surgeries increased by more than 30%. Physician from different specialties can sometimes disagree on their perception on what is the best treatment option for the patient. Aim: to study physicians perception on common hand condition, and their referral pattern. Material and Method: The research was conducted using a survey with a sample size of 102 focusing on health care providers from King Abdul-Aziz University Hospital and they were collected by convenience sampling. The raw data was collected in an excel sheet. We used SPSS statistics 21st for quantitative data analysis. Results: The results gave us a general idea that there is a lot of difference of understanding to the hand conditions and which should be referred to where, with orthopedic being the most referred to Speciality. Conclusion: Referral for different hand and wrist conditions remains unclear to many practicing physicians at our institute. Establishment of a separate hand and wrist unit/clinic that includes all individual specializations may help improve patient care and wait timing.