Article

Physical therapists are uniquely positioned in health care to
initiate or support smoking cessation (SC). Little is known, however, about their
knowledge and views of SC as part of their practices. Objective The purpose of
this study was to assess Canadian physical therapists' knowledge about the health
effects of smoking, their views about addressing SC in practice, and their
self-efficacy in enabling patients to quit smoking. Design This study was a
cross-sectional survey. METHODS: Licensed physical therapists in Canada were
surveyed with postal methods. RESULTS: A total of 738 survey questionnaires were
returned. The mean age and years of clinical experience of the respondents were
41.9 (SD=10.8) years and 17.4 (SD=11.0), respectively. Most respondents (78.6%)
were women. Canadian physical therapists are largely informed about the negative
effects of smoking on health. Although 76.9% of the physical therapists agreed or
strongly agreed that the profession should be more involved in helping people who
smoke quit, only 56.8% of the physical therapists agreed or strongly agreed that
they should receive training on SC. More than 70% of the physical therapists
reported that they were not prepared to provide counseling and, overall, the
level of self-efficacy regarding counseling about SC was low. Lack of resources
and time were reported to be key barriers to counseling patients to quit smoking.
Limitations The findings of this study are limited to Canadian physical
therapists. Response bias and social desirability bias also are potential
limiters in this study. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, the majority of physical therapists
expressed the view that advising people who smoke to quit is a clinical
responsibility and endorsed greater involvement of the profession in helping
people who smoke quit. Discordance existed, however, between these views and the
physical therapists' interest in receiving training on counseling about SC. This
is a benchmark study that has practical implications for targeting training
consistent with the profession's mission to improve health by increasing physical
therapists' preparedness and self-efficacy regarding counseling about SC.

Langue : ANGLAIS