The Physicians' Practice Assessment Questionnaire on asthma and COPD

Area of Science:

• Pulmonary Medicine
• Healthcare Quality Improvement
• Medical Education

Background:

• Asthma and COPD management requires adherence to clinical guidelines.
• Assessing physician adherence to these guidelines is crucial for improving patient care.
• Existing tools for self-assessment of guideline implementation are limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and validate the Physicians' Practice Assessment Questionnaire (PPAQ).
• To evaluate the PPAQ's reliability and internal consistency for assessing asthma and COPD guideline implementation.
• To identify specific areas where general practitioners report lower guideline adherence.

Main Methods:

• Development of the Physicians' Practice Assessment Questionnaire (PPAQ) for self-assessment of asthma and COPD guideline implementation.
• Assessment of PPAQ properties with 47 general practitioners (GPs).
• Test-retest reliability assessed in a subgroup of 28 GPs over a 5-week interval.

Main Results:

• The PPAQ demonstrated good reproducibility and internal consistency (Cronbach's alphas 0.76 for asthma, 0.83 for COPD).
• Lowest reported implementation rates (<50%) included patient education, action plans, and inhaler technique assessment for both conditions.
• Specific gaps identified for asthma included specialist referral and for COPD, lung function assessment and rehabilitation referral.

Conclusions:

• The PPAQ is a reliable and valid tool for the global self-assessment of asthma and COPD guideline implementation.
• The questionnaire effectively identifies specific care gaps in guideline adherence.
• The PPAQ has potential for use in targeted interventions to improve respiratory care quality.