Healthcare providers’ knowledge and clinical practice surrounding shigellosis — DocStyles Survey, 2020

BMC Primary Care

Table 3 Diagnostic and treatment actions reported by healthcare providers of patients with acute diarrhea or shigellosis

	Responses among HCP who regularly treat patients with acute diarrhea or shigellosis N (%)		Chi-square p-value
	Acute diarrhea^a 1287 (85.6)	Shigellosis^b 391 (26.0)	Chi-square p-value
When you provide a consult for a patient with acute diarrhea, do you routinely: *Select all that apply*
Ask about sexual practices^c	239 (18.6)	111 (28.4)	< 0.01
Provide sexual health education^c	112 (8.7)	67 (17.1)	< 0.01
Use a culture-independent diagnostic test	375 (29.1)	166 (42.5)	< 0.01
Request a stool culture	826 (64.2)	270 (69.1)	0.08
Request antibiotic susceptibility testing^d	166 (20.1)	90 (33.3)	< 0.01
Treat with antibiotics	234 (18.2)	116 (29.7)	< 0.01
None of these	315 (24.5)	46 (11.8)	< 0.01
To whom do you usually prescribe antibiotics?^e *Select all that apply*
International travelers	602 (46.8)	202 (51.7)	0.09
Hospitalized patients	426 (33.1)	218 (55.8)	< 0.01
Men who have sex with men	185 (14.5)	116 (29.7)	< 0.01
Adults	232 (18.0)	184 (47.1)	< 0.01
Children	127 (9.9)	150 (38.7)	< 0.01
None of these	391 (30.4)	21 (5.4)	< 0.01

Abbreviations: HCP, healthcare providers
Boldface indicates statistical significance (p < 0.05)
^aHCP who report treating patients with acute diarrhea at least once per week (N = 1297)
^bHCP who report treating patients with positive Shigella tests at least once per month (N = 391)
^cIncludes pediatricians
^dAmong those who routinely request a stool culture
^eFor the analysis of HCP who regularly treat patients with acute diarrhea, this question was phrased, “Which of the following types of patients with acute diarrhea do you usually treat empirically with antibiotics before a pathogen is identified?”. For the analysis of HCP who regularly treat patients with positive Shigella tests, this question was phrased, “Among patients with a positive test for Shigella, to whom do you usually prescribe antibiotics?”

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