Attitudes of respiratory care practitioners and students regarding pulmonary prevention.
OBJECTIVE
(1) To examine attitudes of respiratory care practitioners (RCPs) and RCP students toward pulmonary disease prevention behaviors and their role in promoting them. (2) To compare RCPs' attitudes regarding pulmonary prevention with existing medical student survey data.


METHODS
Cross-sectional survey.


METHODS
Three sites (Valhalla, NY; Winston-Salem, NC; Houston, TX).


METHODS
One hundred ninety RCPs and 164 RCP students compared with 5,744 medical students.


RESULTS
Subjects completed a 35-item RCP Preventive Pulmonary Attitude (PPA) Survey using a five-point scale (1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree). A higher score indicates a more positive attitude toward prevention. RCP total scores averaged 117.6 (SD, 15.7; range, 52 to 160). RCP student total scores were significantly higher than RCP practitioners. No significant differences were observed by gender or by type of patient served (pediatric vs adult). RCPs with a history of tobacco smoking had significantly lower scores than RCPs who had never smoked. Most, but not all, respondents acknowledged the importance of patients with chronic lung disease receiving a yearly influenza vaccination. Total PPA scores for medical students were significantly lower than scores for both RCPs and RCP students. Significant differences were noted for a number of individual items.


CONCLUSIONS
In general, RCPs had positive attitudes regarding the importance of prevention counseling and their role in providing this to patients. This is important given their potential as a resource in pulmonary prevention efforts. More attention to inclusion of training and evaluation of RCP effectiveness in promoting respiratory health is needed.
Sockrider
M M
MM
Baylor College of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Houston, TX, USA. msockrider@msmailpo2.is5.tch.tmc.edu
Maguire
G P
GP
Haponik
E
E
Davis
A
A
Boehlecke
B
B
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003376:Counseling; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010820:Physicians; D012138:Respiratory Therapy / Q000193:education / Q000592:standards*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013337:Students, Medical; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires