Knowledge, attitude and practice of physicians and nurses toward peak expiratory flow meter in primary health care centers in Kuwait

Background: Peak expiratory flow meter (PEFM) may reduce diagnostic delay and improve decision-making in asthma by providing an objective assessment of their flow. Knowledge of nurses and physicians in primary health care can play an essential role to enhance the response of patients about the measurements of peak expiratory flow (PEF). Objective: The aim of the study was to reveal the extent and pattern of knowledge and perception of physicians and nurses about PEFM. Methods: Out of the total primary health care centers in Kuwait; only 50% were randomly selected. A total of 895 physicians and nurses were interviewed out of 1324 individuals currently working in the selected centers for this study with an overall response rate of 74.4%. The questionnaire contained a knowledge section consisted of seven domains with a total of 41 questions. Results: The results of this study showed that physicians had a relatively higher total knowledge score percent than nurses (66.2 ± 10.5% compared with 64.7± 7.3%, P =0.004). Physicians tended to have higher knowledge score for steps of use, defining normal values, and concepts of measurements domains of knowledge, while nurses had significantly higher score values for benefits of use, indicators of use, general concepts, and instructions for learning patients’ knowledge domains of PEFM. Conclusion: Due to different patterns of knowledge and practice of nurses and physicians, training programs should be specifically tailored for each group to bridge the gap of knowledge and improve deficient practices.