Healthcare providers’ attitudes, beliefs and barriers to pulmonary rehabilitation for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Saudi Arabia: a cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVES: To assess the attitude of healthcare providers (HCPs) towards the delivering of pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) to patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and identify factors and barriers that might influence referral. DESIGN: A cross-sectional online survey consisting of nine multiple-choice questions. SETTINGS: Saudi Arabia. PARTICIPANTS: 980 HCPs including nurses, respiratory therapists (RT) and physiotherapists. PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURES: HCPs attitudes towards and expectations of the delivery of PR to COPD patients and the identification of factors and barriers that might influence referral in Saudi Arabia. RESULTS: Overall, 980 HCPs, 53.1% of whom were men, completed the survey. Nurses accounted for 40.1% of the total sample size, and RTs and physiotherapists accounted for 32.1% and 16.5%, respectively. The majority of HCPs strongly agreed that PR would improve exercise capacity 589 (60.1%), health-related quality of life 571 (58.3%), and disease self-management in patients with COPD 589 (60.1%). Moreover, the in-hospital supervised PR programme was the preferred method of delivering PR, according to 374 (38.16%) HCPs. Around 85% of HCPs perceived information about COPD, followed by smoking cessation 787 (80.3%) as essential components of PR besides the exercise component. The most common patient-related factor that strongly influenced referral decisions was ‘mobility affected by breathlessness’ (64%), while the ‘availability of PR centres’ (61%), the ‘lack of trained HCPs’ (52%) and the ‘lack of authority to refer patients’ (44%) were the most common barriers to referral. CONCLUSION: PR is perceived as an effective management strategy for patients with COPD. A supervised hospital-based programme is the preferred method of delivering PR, with information about COPD and smoking cessation considered essential components of PR besides the exercise component. A lack of PR centres, well-trained staff and the authority to refer patients were major barriers to referring patients with COPD. Further research is needed to confirm HCP perceptions of patient-related barriers.