Abstract

Background and objectives: Hypospadias is a congenital condition affecting the urethral opening inmales where the opening is present on the underside of the penile shaft rather than at the tip of the glans.The aim of this research was to evaluate the general knowledge and approach of Pediatricians, FamilyPhysicians and General Practitioners (GP) in the Kingdom of Bahrain towards hypospadias.

Methods: This is a descriptive study in which an anonymous online questionnaire was sent topediatricians, family physicians and general practitioners in Bahrain. The questionnaire included bothyes and no questions, open ended short answer as well as multiple choice questions. The questionnaireincluded components aimed at finding the professional background as well as to assess the knowledgeand approach of these physicians regarding hypospadias.

Results: The total number of participants in this study was 60 physicians. An average of 11.3 years of postgraduate experience was present among the participants. The average number of hypospadiascases seen per year by the participants was 3.1. The age of referral to a surgical specialty was onaverage 4 months and 65% of participants believed that the optimal age for surgery was between 12-18 months. A majority of 75% participants believed that there were congenital anomalies associatedwith hypospadias, with the commonest one described being undescended testis. Finally, 38 (63.3%) physicians answered that they would refer cases to pediatric surgery while 22 (36.7%) answered thatthey would refer these cases to pediatric urology.

Conclusion: Most physicians had an appropriate knowledge of when to refer and when to intervenesurgically in cases of hypospadias. However, several components of the approach, including whether itwas a hereditary condition or if investigations needed to be performed prior to referral were inaccurate.

Keywords: Hypospadias, Undescended Testis, Chordee, Pediatric Urology, Bahrain.