Family Medicine Physician Attitudes towards Climate Change and Health in Egypt

Momen, Mohamed; Basyoni, Nashwa Ismail; Allam, Ibrahim

doi:10.21608/ejcm.2023.224435.1266

Family Medicine Physician Attitudes towards Climate Change and Health in Egypt

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Department of Community, Environmental and Occupational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Ain- Shams University, Cairo, Egypt

² Department of community, environmental, and occupational medicine, faculty of medicine, Ain Shams University

³ Egyptian Family Medicine Fellowship

10.21608/ejcm.2023.224435.1266

Abstract

Introduction - Climate change has a strong impact on numerous aspects of health. Although primary healthcare is the frontline of facing evolving public health issues, few studies have assessed the opinions of family physicians concerning climate change and health in the family medicine setting.
Objective: This study aimed to determine family medicine physician attitudes toward climate change in the family medicine setting in Egypt.
Methods An online questionnaire was distributed 127 family physicians attending postgraduate courses at an Egyptian university. Eighty-four forms were collected (66% response rate).
Results- Eighty-one percent (81%) of the respondents were aged 25-39, and 76.2% were females. Despite 64% of physicians acknowledging that climate change is impacting the health of their patients, only 17% feel at ease advising patients on this matter. Furthermore, while 71% of physicians consider climate change to be pertinent to primary care, only 31% believe that physicians should actively engage in discussing it with their patients. Only a minority of the surveyed physicians (9.6%) reported feeling very well or well-informed about climate change and its effects on health. Despite that, 48% of the respondents agreed or strongly agreed that they feel comfortable while counseling patients on climate change and health.
Conclusions Physicians are aware of climate change and its effects; however, they are hesitant about their role in addressing this topic with patients. A large opportunity exists for training family physicians on climate change and health and their role in educating patients.

Keywords