Caring practices of medical interns for chronically ill patients at Jimma University Medical Center: A cross- sectional study

Background: The increasing prevalence of chronic disease and death from those diseases in both developed and developing countries is a considerable concern to numerous international organizations. Data on practice of medical interns in chronically ill patient care is deficient in Ethiopia. Objective: this study is aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practices of medical interns in caring for chronically ill patients at Jimma University Medical Centre. Method: Across-sectional study was conducted with self-administered approach for data collection. Multiple regression was done and P-value <0.05 was considered for statistical significance. Result: 235 medical interns were participated among which 173(73.6%) are male. More than half 126(53.6%) of the participants had good knowledge, 159(67.7%) had positive attitude, and 95(40.4% had good practice. Medical interns who were working in a medical ward [AOR=0.403 95% CI: 0.170-0.956 had better practice. Medical interns in ≤24 years old were almost three times more likely to better practice than those >25years old [AOR=2.757 95% CI: 1.391-5.465]. Conclusion: Caring practice medical interns for chronically ill patient is low. This finding clearly indicates the importance of better follow up of caring practice of medical interns for chronically ill patients.