General practitioner's knowledge regarding the diagnosis and drug therapy for acute myocardial infarction.

Objective: To assess the general practitioners (GP) knowledge regarding the diagnosis and initial drug therapy for acute myocardial infarction (AMI).

Methods: A questionnaire-based survey was conducted in randomly selected GPs of Karachi. Doctors working in community as GPs who were registered medical practitioners having a Bachelor of Medicine & Bachelor of Surgery degree were included in the study. Doctors working at tertiary care facilities or having a post graduate degree or post graduate training in a specialty other than family medicine were excluded from the study.

Results: A total of 186 GPs participated in our study. GPs who studied research journals were 2.33 times more likely to investigate serum cardiac troponins levels for the diagnosis of AMI compared to those who did not study research journals (P = 0.02). Twenty six percent of the GPs said that they would refer a patient with suspected AMI without treatment, while 76% said that they would consider some treatment prior to referral. Fifty eight percent of the GPs identified ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) of < 12 hours duration as an indication of thrombolysis while 28% identified posterior wall AMI as a thrombolytic indication.

Conclusion: GPs, although adequately aware of the presenting features of AMI, were lacking in knowledge regarding the means for confirmation of diagnosis, initial drug therapy and were less likely to carry management steps in their practice.