Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the knowledge, attitudes and practices of healthcare providers regarding asplenic patients and to assess their satisfaction with the Victorian Spleen Registry (VSR) service.
Methods: Survey forms were sent to 992 healthcare providers listed as caring for at least one patient registered on the VSR.
Results: A total of 223 completed questionnaires were returned. Healthcare providers heard about the VSR mainly from another healthcare professional or through a healthcare institution (31.7%), via online or printed resources (30.8%) or from their patients (24.4%). Most respondents valued the work of the VSR in providing information to healthcare professionals (71.4%), providing a reminder service for vaccinations (66.7%) and providing education to patients (60.5%). Most of those surveyed correctly identified high-risk infections for asplenic and hyposplenic patients with encapsulated organisms, but less than one-third identified a risk with malarial infections (32.9%). Providers always recommended influenza vaccinations, emergency standby antibiotics and an alert medallion or card in 92.8%, 63.6% and 36.4% of cases, respectively.
Conclusions: Healthcare providers value and are satisfied with the service provided by the VSR. Patients can play a valuable role in communicating with their health providers. This survey may have been of value to healthcare providers by heightening awareness of the VSR website as well as knowledge of the registry.
Implications: The results positively reflect the functioning of the VSR, although better promotion of the VSR among healthcare professionals and consideration of expansion is needed.
Keywords: Spleen registry; asplenic; healthcare provider; hyposplenic; survey.
© 2014 Public Health Association of Australia.