Do respiratory therapists receive training and education in smoking cessation? A national study of post-secondary training programs

Abstract

Objective: To assess the tobacco-related education provided by post-secondary respiratory therapy training programs in the United States.

Methods: A cross-sectional research design was used to survey the entire population of program directors of post-secondary, respiratory therapy training programs in the United States. A valid and reliable questionnaire was developed and mailed using a 2-wave mailing technique (73% return rate). Internal reliability coefficients (Cronbach alpha) for the various components of the questionnaire ranged from 0.78 to 0.91.

Results: More than half of programs (56%) offered no teaching on the 5R's. Nearly half (47%) offered no teaching on the 5A's. Of the 13 tobacco-related topics listed in the basic science and clinical science sections of the questionnaire, only one topic (i.e., diseases linked to tobacco use) received 3h or more of instruction by approximately a third of programs (35.8%). The majority of programs (>90%) spent no time teaching students about the socio-political aspects of tobacco use cessation. Moreover, 41% of programs did not formally evaluate students' competence in providing smoking cessation counseling to patients.

Conclusions: Tobacco-related education is a very minor component of the education and training received by respiratory therapy students in the United States.

Practice implications: Respiratory therapy training programs in the United States have great potential to strengthen the tobacco-related education that they provide to students. Practicing respiratory therapists would likely benefit from continuing medical education focused on how to use evidence-based smoking cessation counseling techniques with patients.