A cross-sectional survey of mental health clinicians’ knowledge, attitudes, and practice relating to tobacco dependence among young people with mental disorders

Kulkarni, Meghana, Huddlestone, Lisa, Taylor, Anne, Sayal,, Kapil and Ratschen, Elena (2014) A cross-sectional survey of mental health clinicians’ knowledge, attitudes, and practice relating to tobacco dependence among young people with mental disorders. BMC Health Services Research, 14 (618). pp. 1-7. ISSN 1472-6963

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Abstract

BACKGROUND: Mental health services in England are smoke-free by law and expected to provide comprehensive support to patients who smoke. Although clinicians’ knowledge in this area is reported to be limited, research exploring the issue in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) is lacking. This study aimed to investigate the knowledge, attitudes, and practice of clinicians working within specialist and highly specialist Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) relating to tobacco dependence, its treatment and its relation to mental disorder.

METHODS: A cross-sectional survey of clinicians working across all CAMHS teams of a large UK National Health Service mental health Trust.

RESULTS: Sixty clinicians (50% response rate) completed the survey. Less than half (48.3%) believed that addressing smoking was part of their responsibility, and half (50%) asserted confidence in supporting patients in a cessation attempt. Misconceptions relating to smoking were present across all staff groups: e.g. only 40% of respondents were aware of potential interactions between smoking and antipsychotic medications, although psychiatrists were more knowledgeable than non-medical clinicians (91.6% vs 27.1%; OR 3.4, p < .001). Self-reported attendance at smoking-related training was significantly associated with more proactive clinical practice.

CONCLUSIONS: There is a need to improve clinicians’ knowledge, capacity and confidence in effectively identifying, motivating, supporting and treating young smokers in the context of treatment for mental disorders.

ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12913-014-0618-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Item Type: Article
Keywords: Smoking, Mental illness, Tobacco, Addiction, Mental health services
Schools/Departments: University of Nottingham, UK > Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > School of Medicine > Division of Psychiatry and Applied Psychology
University of Nottingham, UK > Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > School of Medicine > Division of Epidemiology and Public Health
Identification Number: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-014-0618-x
Depositing User: Claringburn, Tara
Date Deposited: 11 Jan 2017 12:02
Last Modified: 14 Oct 2017 07:55
URI: https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/id/eprint/39752

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