Dataset Information

Patient-centred attitudes among medical students in Mali, West Africa: a cross-sectional study.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE:Patient-centred attitudes have been shown to decline during medical training in high-income countries, yet little is known about attitudes among West African medical students. We sought to measure student attitudes towards patient-centredness and examine validity of the 18-item Patient-Practitioner Orientation Scale (PPOS) in this context. PARTICIPANTS/SETTING:430 medical students in years 1, 3, 5 and 6 of a 6-year medical training programme in Bamako, Mali. DESIGN:We conducted a cross-sectional survey, compared the proportion of students who agreed with each PPOS item by gender and academic year, and calculated composite PPOS scores. To examine psychometrics of the PPOS and its two subscales ('sharing' and 'caring'), we calculated internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) and performed confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses (CFA and EFA). RESULTS:In seven of the nine 'sharing' items, the majority of students held attitudes favouring a provider-dominant style. For five of the nine 'caring' items, the majority of student responded consistently with patient-centred attitudes, while in the other four, responses indicated a disease-centred orientation. In eight items, a greater proportion of fifth/sixth year students held patient-centred attitudes as compared with first year students; there were few gender differences. Average PPOS scores indicated students were moderately patient-centred, with more favourable attitudes towards the 'caring' aspect than 'sharing'. Internal consistency of the PPOS was inadequate for the full scale (?=0.58) and subscales ('sharing' ?=0.37; 'caring' ?=0.48). CFA did not support the original PPOS factors and EFA did not identify an improved structure. CONCLUSIONS:West African medical students training in Bamako are moderately patient-centred and do not show the same declines in patient-centred attitudes in higher academic years as seen in other settings. Medical students may benefit from training in shared power skills and in attending to patient lifestyle factors. Locally validated tools are needed to guide West African medical schools in fostering patient-centredness among students.

SUBMITTER: Hurley EA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5786142 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Similar Datasets

Project description:ObjectivesAssessing medical students' attitudes toward patient-centred care is essential to bettering medical education. Based on doctor-patient relationships and the medical system in China, it is important to explore the impact of gender differences and other background factors on patient-centred attitudes and to provide references for medical education reform.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted on fourth-year medical undergraduate students from November 2017 to March 2018 in Heilongjiang Province, Northeast China. The Chinese-revised Patient-Practitioner Orientation Scale (CR-PPOS), which has been validated in previous research, was used to measure the medical students' attitudes. The medical students' demographic data was collected, including their gender, age, information on whether they have siblings, family residence location, doctor(s) for parents, year in which the student first experienced clinical practice, and student category.ResultsA total of 513 students (91.12%) completed the survey. The Chinese medical students scored considerably higher for 'Caring' (including patients' preferences into the decision-making process) than for 'Sharing' (sharing information/responsibility with patients). These students tended to have patient-centred attitudes, as measured by an average overall CR-PPOS score of 3.63 (scores higher than 3.5 indicate patient-centred attitudes), which is higher than Malian (3.38) and Pakistani (3.40) medical students but lower than American (4.57) and Brazilian (4.66) students. Female students (P < 0.05) were significantly associated with more patient-centred attitudes and with higher 'Sharing' and 'Caring' subscale scores. Student category (P < 0.05) was associated with 'Sharing' and 'Caring' scores. Clinical hospital students (P < 0.05) were associated with more patient-centred attitudes and with higher 'Sharing' and 'Caring' subscale scores, Students without siblings (p < 0.07) were associated with the higher 'Sharing' subscale scores.ConclusionsIn China, gender has a significant impact on medical students' patient-centred attitudes, which is similar to findings from other countries. If medical schools want to raise patient-centred attitudes across the board and bridge the gap between male and female patient-centred attitudes, gender, student category, and other factors should be incorporated into medical education.

Project description:ObjectiveTo evaluate the attitudes of undergraduate pharmacy students towards patient safety in six developing countries.DesignA cross-sectional study.SettingParticipants were enrolled from the participating universities in six countries.ParticipantsUndergraduate pharmacy students from the participating universities in six developing countries (Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, India and Indonesia) were invited to participate in the study between October 2018 and September 2019.Primary outcomeAttitudes towards patient safety was measured using 14-item questionnaire that contained five subscales: being quality-improvement focused, internalising errors regardless of harm, value of contextual learning, acceptability of questioning more senior healthcare professionals' behaviour and attitude towards open disclosure. Multiple-linear regression analysis was used to identify predictors of positive attitudes towards patient safety.ResultsA total of 2595 students participated in this study (1044 from Jordan, 514 from Saudi Arabia, 134 from Kuwait, 61 from Qatar, 416 from India and 429 from Indonesia). Overall, the pharmacy students reported a positive attitude towards patient safety with a mean score of 37.4 (SD=7.0) out of 56 (66.8%). The 'being quality-improvement focused' subscale had the highest score, 75.6%. The subscale with the lowest score was 'internalising errors regardless of harm', 49.2%. Female students had significantly better attitudes towards patient safety scores compared with male students (p=0.001). Being at a higher level of study and involvement in or witnessing harm to patients while practising were important predictors of negative attitudes towards patient safety (p<0.001).ConclusionPatient safety content should be covered comprehensively in pharmacy curricula and reinforced in each year of study. This should be more focused on students in their final year of study and who have started their training. This will ensure that the next generation of pharmacists are equipped with the requisite knowledge, core competencies and attitudes to ensure optimal patient safety when they practice.

Dataset Information

Patient-centred attitudes among medical students in Mali, West Africa: a cross-sectional study.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets