Objective  To evaluate the cognition on rare diseases and its associates in Chinese clinicians and to provide references for improving the diagnosis and treatment of rare diseases.

  Methods  A self-administered questionnaire survey was conducted among 2 065 clinicians in 14 public general hospitals of various levels in Tangshan municipality in 2018. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression analysis were performed to analyze the clinicians' cognition on rare diseases and its influencing factors.

  Results  Valid responses were collected from 1 853 clinicians. Compared to the those with collage degree, the respondents with bachelor degree and master degree and above had a significantly higher average cognition score (3.97 and 4.43 vs. 3.36, both P < 0.01) for the scale with a mean score of 4.01; the average cognition score of the respondents working in tertiary hospitals was significantly higher than that of the respondents in secondary hospitals (4.54 vs. 3.82, P < 0.01); in comparison with those providing medical service to 1 – 2 patients in an hour averagely, the respondents providing the service to 3 – 5 and 6 or more patients had significantly higher average cognition score (4.21 and 5.03 vs. 3.94, both P < 0.05).

  Conclusion  Improving professional education of the clinicians and promoting technical training among clinicians in secondary hospitals could contribute to timely diagnosis and reduction in misdiagnosis of rare diseases in China.