Cargando…

Self-reported competence, attitude and approach of physicians towards patients with dementia in ambulatory care: Results of a postal survey

BACKGROUND: Caring for patients with dementia is a demanding task. Little is known as to whether physicians feel competent enough to perform this task or whether a lack of self-perceived competence influences attitudes and professional approach. Even less is known with respect to potential differenc...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Kaduszkiewicz, Hanna, Wiese, Birgitt, van den Bussche, Hendrik
Formato: Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BioMed Central 2008
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2289812/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18321394
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1472-6963-8-54
_version_ 1782152340094058496
author Kaduszkiewicz, Hanna
Wiese, Birgitt
van den Bussche, Hendrik
author_facet Kaduszkiewicz, Hanna
Wiese, Birgitt
van den Bussche, Hendrik
author_sort Kaduszkiewicz, Hanna
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Caring for patients with dementia is a demanding task. Little is known as to whether physicians feel competent enough to perform this task or whether a lack of self-perceived competence influences attitudes and professional approach. Even less is known with respect to potential differences between general practitioners (GPs) and specialists. The purpose of this study was to investigate the interrelationship between the self-perceived competence, attitude and professional approach of physicians in ambulatory care in Germany. A further aim was to compare GPs and specialists with regard to differences in these areas. METHODS: A standardised postal survey was sent to 389 GPs and 239 neurologists and psychiatrists in six metropolitan areas in Germany. The 49-item questionnaire consisted of attitudinal statements to be rated on a Likert-type scale. Return rates were 54 percent for GPs and 40 percent for specialists. Statistical methods used to analyze data included correlation analysis, cluster analysis and ordinal regression analysis. RESULTS: No differences were found between GPs and specialists with regard to their general attitude towards caring for patients with dementia. Approximately 15 percent of both disciplines showed a clearly negative attitude. Self-reported competence was strongly associated with general attitude. In particular among GPs, and less so among specialists, a strong positive association was found between self-reported competence, general attitude and professional approach (e.g. early detection, active case finding and cooperation with caregivers). Differences between GPs and specialists were smaller than expected and appear to predominantly reflect task differences within the German health care system. CONCLUSION: Training opportunities which enable in particular GPs to enhance not only their competence but also their general attitude towards dementia care would appear to be beneficial and might carry positive consequences for patients and their caregivers.
format Text
id pubmed-2289812
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2008
publisher BioMed Central
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-22898122008-04-08 Self-reported competence, attitude and approach of physicians towards patients with dementia in ambulatory care: Results of a postal survey Kaduszkiewicz, Hanna Wiese, Birgitt van den Bussche, Hendrik BMC Health Serv Res Research Article BACKGROUND: Caring for patients with dementia is a demanding task. Little is known as to whether physicians feel competent enough to perform this task or whether a lack of self-perceived competence influences attitudes and professional approach. Even less is known with respect to potential differences between general practitioners (GPs) and specialists. The purpose of this study was to investigate the interrelationship between the self-perceived competence, attitude and professional approach of physicians in ambulatory care in Germany. A further aim was to compare GPs and specialists with regard to differences in these areas. METHODS: A standardised postal survey was sent to 389 GPs and 239 neurologists and psychiatrists in six metropolitan areas in Germany. The 49-item questionnaire consisted of attitudinal statements to be rated on a Likert-type scale. Return rates were 54 percent for GPs and 40 percent for specialists. Statistical methods used to analyze data included correlation analysis, cluster analysis and ordinal regression analysis. RESULTS: No differences were found between GPs and specialists with regard to their general attitude towards caring for patients with dementia. Approximately 15 percent of both disciplines showed a clearly negative attitude. Self-reported competence was strongly associated with general attitude. In particular among GPs, and less so among specialists, a strong positive association was found between self-reported competence, general attitude and professional approach (e.g. early detection, active case finding and cooperation with caregivers). Differences between GPs and specialists were smaller than expected and appear to predominantly reflect task differences within the German health care system. CONCLUSION: Training opportunities which enable in particular GPs to enhance not only their competence but also their general attitude towards dementia care would appear to be beneficial and might carry positive consequences for patients and their caregivers. BioMed Central 2008-03-06 /pmc/articles/PMC2289812/ /pubmed/18321394 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1472-6963-8-54 Text en Copyright © 2008 Kaduszkiewicz et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0) ), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Kaduszkiewicz, Hanna
Wiese, Birgitt
van den Bussche, Hendrik
Self-reported competence, attitude and approach of physicians towards patients with dementia in ambulatory care: Results of a postal survey
title Self-reported competence, attitude and approach of physicians towards patients with dementia in ambulatory care: Results of a postal survey
title_full Self-reported competence, attitude and approach of physicians towards patients with dementia in ambulatory care: Results of a postal survey
title_fullStr Self-reported competence, attitude and approach of physicians towards patients with dementia in ambulatory care: Results of a postal survey
title_full_unstemmed Self-reported competence, attitude and approach of physicians towards patients with dementia in ambulatory care: Results of a postal survey
title_short Self-reported competence, attitude and approach of physicians towards patients with dementia in ambulatory care: Results of a postal survey
title_sort self-reported competence, attitude and approach of physicians towards patients with dementia in ambulatory care: results of a postal survey
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2289812/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18321394
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1472-6963-8-54
work_keys_str_mv AT kaduszkiewiczhanna selfreportedcompetenceattitudeandapproachofphysicianstowardspatientswithdementiainambulatorycareresultsofapostalsurvey
AT wiesebirgitt selfreportedcompetenceattitudeandapproachofphysicianstowardspatientswithdementiainambulatorycareresultsofapostalsurvey
AT vandenbusschehendrik selfreportedcompetenceattitudeandapproachofphysicianstowardspatientswithdementiainambulatorycareresultsofapostalsurvey