Knowledge regarding diagnosis and treatment of anaphylaxis of general practitioners and medical students

Purpose: the study aims to compare the knowledge of medical students with those of general practitioners about diagnosis and treatment of anaphylaxis. materials and methods: senior students at bolu abant izzet baysal medical faculty and general practitioners working in the health care system in bolu were asked to answer a questionnaire. the questionnaire consisted of cases with anaphylaxis or anaphylaxis-like situations. results: 68 students and 55 general practitioners were included in the study. thirty eight (55.8%) of the students and 39 (70.9%) of the general practitioners were male. the rate of correct diagnosis of anaphylaxis cases was 59.8% among students while this rate was 35.8% for the general practitioners. the difference between the 2 groups was statistically significant (p<0.001). however there was no statistically significant difference between the groups in regards to the usage of adrenalin as the first treatment alternative and its correct dosage during anaphylaxis (59.8 vs. 51.3%, p=0.21 and 50.0 vs. 48.1%, p=0.77, respectively). 12 general practitioners had less than 10 years professional experience while 43 of them had more than 10 years professional practice. the correct answer ratio to the anaphylaxis questions was statistically significantly higher in the less experienced group (44.4 vs. 24.8%, p=0.022). nevertheless, there was no statistically significant difference between the groups in regards to the usage of adrenaline as the first treatment modality in anaphylaxis and in regards to the correct usage of adrenalin ( 47.2 vs. 32.5%, p=0.1 and 45.8 vs. 48.8%, p=0.79, respectively). conclusion: the knowledge about diagnosis and treatment of anaphylaxis of both medical students and general practitioners is not sufficient. we believe that in order to increase these ratios, not only the medical education but also the post-graduate education should be improved.