P235 The Bristol COPD Knowledge Questionnaire (BCKQ): Assessing the Knowledge of Healthcare Professionals Involved in the Delivery of COPD Services

Abstract

Poster sessionsThorax 2012;67(Suppl 2):A1-A204 A167Objective To assess the knowledge of HCPs involved in the delivery of COPD services. Method The Bristol COPD Knowledge Questionnaire (BCKQ) was distributed to 108 HCPs working in primary and secondary care COPD services (Coventry, Leicester, Lothian, Nottingham and Northampton) to assess knowledge. The BCKQ is primarily an outcome measure for patient knowledge (White et al. 2006). It is a multiple choice questionnaire containing 13 topics, each with five statements giving a total of 65 questions for which there is a right or wrong answer. Positive scoring was used with a mark being given for a correct answer. Incorrect responses indicate a knowledge deficit.Results The overall findings revealed that HCPs had a mean score of 50 (77%) (minimum 24, maximum 62). The results from the BCKQ revealed particular gaps in knowledge in the breathlessness topic with a mean score of 3.3 (66%) (minimum 1, maximum 5) and across the medication topics, particularly inhaled steroids with only a mean score of 2.7 (54%) (minimum 0, maximum 5) of participants providing correct answers. Conclusion The HCPs involved in the delivery of these COPD services had particular gaps in knowledge around breathlessness and medications. HCP gaps in knowledge could inadvertently impact patient knowledge and understanding of their condition and subsequently the ability of patients to effectively self-manage their COPD. Identifying gaps in knowledge can encourage HCP education and training to enhance HCP knowledge and subsequent patient care. Background BTS guidance for Emergency Oxygen Use recommends that local anaesthesia should be used for all routine arterial blood gas (ABG) sampling [1]. Intradermal and/or subcutaneous local anaesthetic (LA) via small gauge needle has been shown to reduce pain associated with the procedure by more than half [2]. We aimed to quantify the prevalence of this practise and ascertain potential barriers. Methods 160 FY1 doctors with at least eight months working experience, from five hospitals in London were given a ten-item anonymised questionnaire to measure practise and opinions regarding local anaesthesia before ABG sampling. Results All 115 respondents (72% response rate) performed ABG sampling regularly, with 84% doing so at least weekly.Only 27% of respondents had ever used intradermal and/or subcutaneous LA before ABG sampling, although only 5% did this regularly.The commonest needles used were 25 gauge (orange) (49%), 28 gauge (insulin needle) (18%), and 23 gauge (blue) (16%).70% of respondents had never used LA of any kind for ABG sampling. Topical LA use was rare.14% of respondents had never heard of LA used for ABG sampling; 24% were unfamiliar with how to do it; 14% believed it was potentially dangerous; 34% claimed not to have time, 21% believed that LA would not reduce the overall pain of the procedure (Figure 1).Allen's test was usually perfomed by only 25% of doctors before ABG sampling.

Closing the gap: The effect of an evidence‐based intervention in increasing COPD nurses' knowledge

“…According to the analysis, the level of knowledge of nurses regarding the management of patients with COPD was very low (52.74%) at the baseline. The percentage of correct answers was very similar to that reported in the sample of patients in other studies 11 . The lack of nurses' knowledge was previously supported by several authors 8-11,21-23 .…”

“…To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to explore the effectiveness of a training intervention in increasing the knowledge of COPD in a sample of nurses by using the BCKQ in several time intervals. The BCKQ was used in the international literature several times in patients and fewer times in healthcare professionals showing a gap of knowledge in both two groups 11,19,20 …”

“…Alsaker and Kvinge 10 have emphasized the need to educate the staff on the prevention of COPD exacerbation, therapy compliance, and diet and inhalation drug techniques. In more recent research, conducted by Edwards and Singh 11 in a sample of healthcare professionals from UK, stressed that the lack of their knowledge regarding dyspnea management, and inhaled corticosteroid provision interferes with the ability of patients' disease self‐management.…”

Correlates of disease-specific knowledge in Chinese patients with COPD

“…Putting in the same metric of BCKQ overall score, the knowledge level of both the COPD patients and health care professionals managing those patients was available for comparison. In a UK study, 19 the BCKQ was administered to health care professionals involved in the service delivery of COPD intervention in primary and secondary care. Not surprisingly, the BCKQ overall score of health care professionals had a higher mean score than that of COPD patients (mean: 50 vs 41).…”

Patient information, education and self-management in bronchiectasis: facilitating improvements to optimise health outcomes

“…There is evidence, in COPD, that gaps in knowledge of health care professionals can impact upon patients’ knowledge and understanding of their condition [ 92 ]. This finding may apply to other conditions.…”