Physicians' Knowledge of Pulmonary Rehabilitation in China: A Cross-Sectional Study

Feng Pan; Ai-Ting Lu; Xiaowei Mao; Fang Hu; Hai Zhang; Baohui Han

doi:10.2147/COPD.S429517

Physicians' Knowledge of Pulmonary Rehabilitation in China: A Cross-Sectional Study

Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis. 2024 Jan 16:19:121-131. doi: 10.2147/COPD.S429517. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Feng Pan^#¹, Ai-Ting Lu^#^{1

2}, Xiaowei Mao^#¹, Fang Hu¹, Hai Zhang¹, Baohui Han¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Shanghai Chest Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China.
² Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Regional Medical Center for National Institute of Respiratory Diseases, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, People's Republic of China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the knowledge of pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) among physicians involved in pulmonary disease management.

Methods: This multi-regional cross-sectional survey was conducted from December 12, 2019 to January 22, 2020. The participants were enrolled and an electronic questionnaire was exclusively sent to the members of the Lung Cancer Special Committee of the China Medicine Education Association through the WeChat platform. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to explore the associated factors of high PR knowledge scores (≥ 18 points).

Results: From the 858 valid questionnaires, the routine implementation of PR was only reported for 16.95% of physicians. The main reason hindering the implementation of PR for patients was the limited knowledge and awareness of PR among the physicians involved (69.1%). A total of 618 and 240 physicians had high and low knowledge scores, respectively. Multivariable analysis suggests that the self-perception of PR knowledge (OR = 1.89, 95% CI: 1.32-2.771, P = 0.001) was independently associated with high knowledge scores, while having no theoretical knowledge of PR was associated with poor knowledge scores (OR = 0.43, 95% CI: 0.26-0.72, P = 0.001).

Conclusion: Inadequate knowledge of pulmonary rehabilitation is evident among physicians who are involved in pulmonary disease management in China. This underscores the need for more comprehensive and standardized training to bolster their awareness and effective utilization of pulmonary rehabilitation.

Keywords: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; knowledge; lung cancer; oncologists; pulmonary rehabilitation.

MeSH terms

China
Cross-Sectional Studies
Humans
Lung Neoplasms*
Physicians*
Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive*

Grants and funding

The study was supported by Zhejiang Medical and Health Science and Technology program (2023RC034); the Medical Engineering Cross Research Foundation of Shanghai Jiao Tong University (ZH2018QNA67); Scientific Research Project of Shanghai Municipal Health Commission (20194Y0168). The funders had no role in the study design, data collection, data analysis and interpretation, writing of the report, or the decision to submit the article for publication.