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Management of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
R A Bontsevich1, A V Adonina1, Y R Vovk1
1Belgorod State National Research University, 85 Pobedy St., Belgorod 308015 Russia.
Insights
Senior medical students demonstrate an average knowledge of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) management, with significant gaps in understanding clinical symptoms and initial treatment strategies. Further education is needed to improve COPD care.
Area of Science:
- Pulmonary Medicine
- Medical Education
Background:
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) remains a leading cause of death globally, posing significant public health challenges.
- Despite advances in pharmacotherapy, unfavorable disease dynamics persist, highlighting the need for improved patient management.
- The World Health Organization (WHO) identified COPD as the third leading cause of death in 2016.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the knowledge level of senior medical students regarding the management of patients with COPD.
- To identify specific areas of strength and weakness in students' understanding of COPD.
Main Methods:
- An anonymous questionnaire survey was conducted.
- The study involved 338 senior medical students from six major cities in Russia and Ukraine.
- Data was collected between 2017 and 2019 as part of the ASCO project.
Main Results:
- The overall average knowledge level among senior medical students was 56.6% correct answers.
- Students demonstrated better knowledge of COPD risk factors and vaccine prevention (influenza, pneumococcal).
- Areas with the poorest performance included COPD clinical symptoms, initial therapy for advanced COPD, and exacerbation management.
Conclusions:
- Senior medical students exhibit an insufficient foundational knowledge of COPD etiopathogenesis, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention.
- Educational interventions are necessary to enhance students' understanding and management skills for COPD.
- Targeted improvements in curriculum are needed, particularly concerning clinical symptom assessment and therapeutic strategies for COPD exacerbations.
Abstract:
The relevance of the study of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) can be explained by the persistence of unfavorable dynamics of the disease, even despite the achieved success in the pharmacotherapy of this pathology. In 2016, World Health Organization (WHO) ranked COPD as the third leading cause of death worldwide, far exceeding the experts' predictions, who believed that such an increase in the death rate would occur by 2030. This study aimed to determine the level of senior medical students' knowledge in the management of patients with COPD, based on the method of anonymous questioning. This research work describes the results of the second stage of the ASCO project (Assessment of Senior Medical Students in the Field of COPD) conducted in 2017-2019 among 338 senior medical students from six large cities of Russia and Ukraine. The survey revealed the average level of knowledge among senior medical students, based on the average level of correct answers (56.6%) obtained in the study. The best results were obtained for the questions about COPD risk factors, influenza vaccine prevention, and pneumococcal vaccine prevention in COPD patients. The worst results were recorded on the questions about the severity of COPD clinical symptoms, the choice of initial therapy for COPD with advanced symptoms, a high risk of exacerbations, and the moderate exacerbation of COPD. The obtained results indicated an insufficient level of students' basic knowledge in questions regarding etiopathogenesis, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of COPD.
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