Knowledge, attitude, and practice toward disease prevention among a high-risk population for chronic obstructive...

This study aimed to describe the current situation of knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) prevention among a high-risk population for COPD.

A cross-sectional survey was conducted. A total of 241 participants at risk of COPD were selected who visited the respiratory outpatient department of a Class A tertiary hospital in Chongqing, China from January to December 2021. A self-developed COPD prevention KAP assessment was used for evaluation which included knowledge (21 items), attitude (9 items), and practice (9 items) three dimension, 39 items.

The average overall KAP score was 68.29 ± 12.91, with scores for the knowledge, attitude, and practice dimension was 68.75 ± 18.07, 71.13 ± 15.09 and 65.00 ± 20.93, respectively. Among the people at risk of COPD, 76.8% experienced a moderate level of KAP toward COPD prevention, while 22.0% were at a poor level. Significant differences in the KAP scores were based on gender, educational level, occupation, type of medical insurance, smoking, and passive smoking status (P < 0.05). The male COPD high-risk group has better KAP toward COPD prevention than the female group (P < 0.05). The knowledge and attitude of COPD prevention present worse in people with a high risk of COPD aged 70 or above, primary school and below educational level, and farmers (P < 0.05). Smoking and passive smoking groups have higher recognition of the knowledge but the lower practice of COPD prevention (P < 0.05).

The participants with a high risk of COPD had a moderate level of KAP for COPD prevention, in which the understanding and action on vaccination and lung function test was weak, but an active attitude for health. It is necessary to implement tailored health education interventions to their characteristics to reduce the incidence and development of COPD.