Knowledge, attitude and practices on developmental surveillance and screening among health professionals in Indian health care settings: An exploratory sequential mixed methods study

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to assess the knowledge, attitude and practices of health care professionals in pediatric settings on developmental surveillance and screening programs and also to identify the barriers and facilitators during its implementation. METHODS: The data were collected from health professionals involved in pediatric developmental care, practicing in various hospitals, clinics and nursing homes in a suburban city on west coast of Southern India. The study involved cross-sectional exploratory sequential mixed method design which included a quantitative questionnaire survey on health professionals (n= 52) followed by qualitative face-to-face interviews with chosen respondents who participated in the survey (n= 8). The survey data are reported with descriptive statistics, and interview data are subjected to inductive content analysis for deriving codes, categories and themes. RESULTS: The study results indicate that health professionals involved in pediatric developmental care in Indian health care settings have fair knowledge and a favorable attitude towards the use of developmental surveillance and screening. Furthermore, the facilitators and barriers of implementation have been reported. The strategies outlined by interview respondents to improve adherence to implementation have been discussed. CONCLUSIONS: The practice of developmental surveillance and screening is limited despite favorable knowledge and attitude among health professionals in pediatric developmental care and is dependent on health care organizational setup.