Brief educational presentation on air pollution improves resident physician knowledge
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Key takeaways:
- More resident physicians responded that air pollution levels are strongly associated with disease severity after vs. before an educational presentation.
- Average questionnaire scores went up from 52.8% to 89.2%.
BOSTON — Resident physicians had a better understanding of how air pollution impacts patients and how to prevent exposure after attending a 15-minute educational presentation, according to data presented at the CHEST Annual Meeting.
“Our study population demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in air pollution knowledge and prevention techniques after our resident-led intervention,” Shanan Barua, MD, internal medicine resident at NYU Grossman Long Island School of Medicine, told Healio.
“Our residents also reported an increase in confidence in preventive counseling after receiving our presentation,” Barua continued. “We believe that implementing this topic into standardized medical education can positively shape how confidently and frequently future physicians counsel their patients on air pollution prevention.”
In a prospective cohort study, Barua and colleagues analyzed questionnaire responses from 27 resident physicians on the topic of air pollution to find out how much they knew about this type of exposure before and after listening to a 15-minute educational presentation led by a resident.
According to the abstract, the questionnaire consisted of 32 questions and asked resident physicians about pollutants, air pollution sources and pathophysiology, ways to limit exposure and their attitude related to air pollution inclusion in practice and training.
During evaluation of responses covering the number of lectures received throughout medical training pertaining to the impact of air pollution on human health, researchers found that most resident physicians (68%) had not received any. A little more than a quarter (28%) received one lecture, and very few (4%) received three or more.
“I found it surprising that [most] of our study population reported receiving zero lectures regarding air pollution prevention in medical school or residency,” Barua told Healio. “The majority of our population stated their knowledge base was acquired passively from the internet. This highlighted to me that we may not be providing training physicians with the proper tools to confidently counsel their patients, despite the devastating impacts that air pollution can have on vulnerable patients.”
Additionally, delivery of daily care for patients with chronic or acute respiratory diseases was reported by a large proportion of the population (67%), according to the abstract.
More resident physicians responded that air pollution levels are strongly associated with disease severity after vs. before the educational presentation (59% vs. 26%).
Similarly, when asked to identify methods to limit general air pollution exposure, researchers noted that a greater proportion of resident physicians responded correctly following the educational presentation compared with before the presentation (89% vs. 56%).
Average questionnaire scores went up from 52.8% to 89.2% (36% increase; P < .00018) with receipt of the 15-minute educational presentation, according to researchers.
“[In the future,] we plan on expanding our study population to include resident physicians of various specialties, such as family medicine, emergency medicine, OB/GYN and pediatrics as well,” Barua told Healio. “We eventually hope to extend our assessment and intervention to geographic areas outside of the Northeast as well.
“I would like to recommend AirNow and EnviroFlash to any clinicians looking to recommend resources to their patients,” Barua added. “These resources from the EPA provide air quality information on a daily basis and can help patients determine what their daily activities should look like.”
For more information:
Shanan Barua, MD, can be reached at shananbaruamd@gmail.com.
Perspective
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One of the main findings of the study, that education interventions are helpful in improving clinical knowledge of air pollution risk and prevention, is not surprising. While there has been a growing movement to increase coverage of environmental health risks, including air pollution, in medical schools, there is still a large gap in knowledge, and dedicated education interventions can help close that gap.
One of the results of the study, that clinicians dramatically increased their knowledge of preventative measures (ie, methods to limit general exposure to air pollution) with the educational presentation, is not surprising. Many clinicians I interact with report that dedicated education on methods to protect their patients from air pollution and the impacts of climate change is helpful when they are counseling patients on these health risks.
More than two-thirds of respondents in the study initially reported not having received any lectures on the health risks of air pollution. Knowing that dedicated education on this topic could help improve patient care, members of the health care team who do not have prior knowledge or education on this topic should look to incorporate dedicated educational interventions, whether it be in medical school, as a graduate medical activity or as continuing medical education.
Looking ahead, we should continue to evaluate the efficacy of different education tools and resources in clinical spaces to determine which are most effective for understanding the health risks of air pollution and how to best protect our patients and communities from those risks.
Note that the full study was not available to me. I based my answers on the abstract alone.
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