Screening for atrial fibrillation – a cross-sectional survey of healthcare professionals in primary care

Introduction: Screening for atrial fibrillation (AF) in primary care has been recommended; however, the views of healthcare professionals (HCPs) are not known. This study aimed to determine the opinions of HCP about the feasibility of implementing screening within a primary care setting. Methods...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors:	Taggar, Jaspal, Coleman, Tim, Lewis, Sarah, Jones, Matthew
Format:	Article
Language:	English
Published:	Public Library of Science 2016
Online Access:	http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/32710/ http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/32710/ http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/32710/ http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/32710/1/Taggar%20PLOS%20ONE%202016.pdf

id	nottingham-32710
recordtype	eprints
spelling	nottingham-327102018-07-02T09:04:51Z http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/32710/ Screening for atrial fibrillation – a cross-sectional survey of healthcare professionals in primary care Taggar, Jaspal Coleman, Tim Lewis, Sarah Jones, Matthew Introduction: Screening for atrial fibrillation (AF) in primary care has been recommended; however, the views of healthcare professionals (HCPs) are not known. This study aimed to determine the opinions of HCP about the feasibility of implementing screening within a primary care setting. Methods: A cross-sectional mixed methods census survey of 418 HCPs from 59 inner-city practices (Nottingham, UK) was conducted between October-December 2014. Postal and web-surveys ascertained data on existing methods, knowledge, skills, attitudes, barriers and facilitators to AF screening using Likert scale and open-ended questions. Responses, categorized according to HCP group, were summarized using proportions, adjusting for clustering by practice, with 95% C.Is and free-text responses using thematic analysis. Results: At least one General Practitioner (GP) responded from 48 (81%) practices. There were 212/418 (51%) respondents; 118/229 GPs, 67/129 nurses [50 practice nurses; 17 Nurse Practitioners (NPs)], 27/60 healthcare assistants (HCAs). 39/48 (81%) practices had an ECG machine and diagnosed AF in-house. Non-GP HCPs reported having less knowledge about ECG interpretation, diagnosing and treating AF than GPs. A greater proportion of non-GP HCPs reported they would benefit from ECG training specifically for AF diagnosis than GPs [proportion (95% CI) GPs: 11.9% (6.8–20.0); HCAs: 37.0% (21.7–55.5); nurses: 44.0% (30.0–59.0); NPs 41.2% (21.9–63.7)]. Barriers included time, workload and capacity to undertake screening activities, although training to diagnose and manage AF was a required facilitator. Conclusion: Inner-city general practices were found to have adequate access to resources for AF screening. There is enthusiasm by non-GP HCPs to up-skill in the diagnosis and management of AF and they may have a role in future AF screening. However, organisational barriers, such as lack of time, staff and capacity, should be overcome for AF screening to be feasibly implemented within primary care. Public Library of Science 2016-04-01 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en cc_by http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/32710/1/Taggar%20PLOS%20ONE%202016.pdf Taggar, Jaspal and Coleman, Tim and Lewis, Sarah and Jones, Matthew (2016) Screening for atrial fibrillation – a cross-sectional survey of healthcare professionals in primary care. PLoS ONE, 11 (4). e0152086/1-http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0152086/14. ISSN 1932-6203 http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0152086 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0152086 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0152086
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Local University
institution	University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus
building	Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection	Online Access
language	English
description	Introduction: Screening for atrial fibrillation (AF) in primary care has been recommended; however, the views of healthcare professionals (HCPs) are not known. This study aimed to determine the opinions of HCP about the feasibility of implementing screening within a primary care setting. Methods: A cross-sectional mixed methods census survey of 418 HCPs from 59 inner-city practices (Nottingham, UK) was conducted between October-December 2014. Postal and web-surveys ascertained data on existing methods, knowledge, skills, attitudes, barriers and facilitators to AF screening using Likert scale and open-ended questions. Responses, categorized according to HCP group, were summarized using proportions, adjusting for clustering by practice, with 95% C.Is and free-text responses using thematic analysis. Results: At least one General Practitioner (GP) responded from 48 (81%) practices. There were 212/418 (51%) respondents; 118/229 GPs, 67/129 nurses [50 practice nurses; 17 Nurse Practitioners (NPs)], 27/60 healthcare assistants (HCAs). 39/48 (81%) practices had an ECG machine and diagnosed AF in-house. Non-GP HCPs reported having less knowledge about ECG interpretation, diagnosing and treating AF than GPs. A greater proportion of non-GP HCPs reported they would benefit from ECG training specifically for AF diagnosis than GPs [proportion (95% CI) GPs: 11.9% (6.8–20.0); HCAs: 37.0% (21.7–55.5); nurses: 44.0% (30.0–59.0); NPs 41.2% (21.9–63.7)]. Barriers included time, workload and capacity to undertake screening activities, although training to diagnose and manage AF was a required facilitator. Conclusion: Inner-city general practices were found to have adequate access to resources for AF screening. There is enthusiasm by non-GP HCPs to up-skill in the diagnosis and management of AF and they may have a role in future AF screening. However, organisational barriers, such as lack of time, staff and capacity, should be overcome for AF screening to be feasibly implemented within primary care.
format	Article
author	Taggar, Jaspal Coleman, Tim Lewis, Sarah Jones, Matthew
spellingShingle	Taggar, Jaspal Coleman, Tim Lewis, Sarah Jones, Matthew Screening for atrial fibrillation – a cross-sectional survey of healthcare professionals in primary care
author_facet	Taggar, Jaspal Coleman, Tim Lewis, Sarah Jones, Matthew
author_sort	Taggar, Jaspal
title	Screening for atrial fibrillation – a cross-sectional survey of healthcare professionals in primary care
title_short	Screening for atrial fibrillation – a cross-sectional survey of healthcare professionals in primary care
title_full	Screening for atrial fibrillation – a cross-sectional survey of healthcare professionals in primary care
title_fullStr	Screening for atrial fibrillation – a cross-sectional survey of healthcare professionals in primary care
title_full_unstemmed	Screening for atrial fibrillation – a cross-sectional survey of healthcare professionals in primary care
title_sort	screening for atrial fibrillation – a cross-sectional survey of healthcare professionals in primary care
publisher	Public Library of Science
publishDate	2016
url	http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/32710/ http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/32710/ http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/32710/ http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/32710/1/Taggar%20PLOS%20ONE%202016.pdf
first_indexed	2018-09-06T12:16:54Z
last_indexed	2018-09-06T12:16:54Z
_version_	1610860425147056128

Screening for atrial fibrillation – a cross-sectional survey of healthcare professionals in primary care

Similar Items