Research
Web exclusive
Hospice care in Calgary Survey of family physicians on their knowledge, experience, and attitudes Ronald Spice
MD
Monica Lau
MD
Grace Perez
MSc
Nathan Turley
MA
Tanvir Chowdhury Turin
MB BS PhD
Abstract Objective To explore Calgary family physicians’ knowledge about hospices, their attitudes toward the referral process, and their understanding of barriers to referral for hospice care. Design Surveys were mailed to 400 randomly selected participants. The survey contained 18 questions related to hospice care, physician experience, attitudes, and perceived barriers to making a hospice referral. Setting Calgary, Alta. Participants Family physicians. Main outcome measures Survey responses were analyzed quantitatively using the c2 goodness-of-fit test, KruskalWallis tests, and logistic regression analyses to examine univariate associations. Qualitative analysis of open-ended questions was done by content analysis and thematic coding. Results In total, 104 surveys were mailed back. Family physicians agreed that palliative care in a hospice setting can greatly improve quality of life for patients, but only 2 of 6 knowledge questions about hospice care were answered correctly by most. Family physicians with special areas of interest or subspecialties were more likely to feel wellinformed about hospice referrals (P = .017), indicated a higher comfort level discussing hospice and palliative care (P = .030), and were less likely to defer discussing it with patients (P = .023). Physicians with a special interest in palliative medicine were more likely to correctly answer the knowledge Editor’s key points questions (P
Web exclusive
Hospice care in Calgary Survey of family physicians on their knowledge, experience, and attitudes Ronald Spice
MD
Monica Lau
MD
Grace Perez
MSc
Nathan Turley
MA
Tanvir Chowdhury Turin
MB BS PhD
Abstract Objective To explore Calgary family physicians’ knowledge about hospices, their attitudes toward the referral process, and their understanding of barriers to referral for hospice care. Design Surveys were mailed to 400 randomly selected participants. The survey contained 18 questions related to hospice care, physician experience, attitudes, and perceived barriers to making a hospice referral. Setting Calgary, Alta. Participants Family physicians. Main outcome measures Survey responses were analyzed quantitatively using the c2 goodness-of-fit test, KruskalWallis tests, and logistic regression analyses to examine univariate associations. Qualitative analysis of open-ended questions was done by content analysis and thematic coding. Results In total, 104 surveys were mailed back. Family physicians agreed that palliative care in a hospice setting can greatly improve quality of life for patients, but only 2 of 6 knowledge questions about hospice care were answered correctly by most. Family physicians with special areas of interest or subspecialties were more likely to feel wellinformed about hospice referrals (P = .017), indicated a higher comfort level discussing hospice and palliative care (P = .030), and were less likely to defer discussing it with patients (P = .023). Physicians with a special interest in palliative medicine were more likely to correctly answer the knowledge Editor’s key points questions (P
