Knowledge, attitude, and practice toward disease prevention among a high-risk population for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: A cross-sectional study.
Lulu Zhao, Qinghua Zhao
PMID 37128490WHAT IT FOUND
High-risk COPD patients recognized smoking harms lungs but did not act on prevention.
Vaccination, lung function checks, and early-life risk factors were weak spots in COPD prevention.
Key findings
01The 241 participants had an overall knowledge, attitude, and practice score of 68.29 ± 12.91, and practice was lowest at 65.00 ± 20.93.
02Practice was the weakest area: 35.3% scored below 60, while knowledge was moderate in 61.4%.
03Participants who smoked or had passive smoking exposure reported better COPD prevention knowledge but lower preventive practice.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Convenience sampling from one tertiary hospital respiratory outpatient department means the participants may not represent high-risk COPD patients elsewhere. Only 28.7% of dialed mobile numbers were effectively answered, and people without a telephone or mobile phone were excluded, so the sample may miss relevant groups. The questionnaire was self-designed and self-rated, and the study did not use a standardized instrument. The cross-sectional design measured knowledge, attitude, and practice at one time and cannot show whether prevention behavior caused or changed outcomes. The study did not test an intervention, so it cannot show that education improves COPD prevention.
Declared interests
The paper reports nothing to declare for funding and states that the authors have no conflict of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the moderate knowledge and attitude scores as evidence that these patients are preventing COPD effectively. Practice was the lowest dimension, and 35.3% scored below 60, while the survey did not test whether education changes outcomes.