Date of Award

5-1-2024

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Respiratory Therapy

First Advisor

Douglas S. Gardenhire

Second Advisor

Shi Huh Samuel Shan

Third Advisor

Kyle Brandenberger

Abstract

Background: Asthma is a widespread chronic respiratory disease that affects a total of 339 million people of the global population in distinct countries reported by The Global Initiative for Asthma report. Asthma is one of the most common chronic diseases among children and is a noncommunicable disease (NCD) that affects both children and adults. It is necessary to evaluate healthcare students' perceptions to minimize asthma complications since they will play a significant role in diagnosing and controlling asthma in their future careers. Purpose: This study aims to evaluate and compare the perceptions of asthma management among healthcare students lacking clinical experiences including entry-level master's and bachelor's respiratory therapy, graduate physical therapy, graduate occupational therapy, and undergraduate nurses’ programs at Byrdine F. Lewis College of Nursing and Health Professions, Georgia State University. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was performed on participants from four healthcare programs. Data were collected through a self-administered survey to investigate the perceptions, attitudes, and beliefs held by students attending Respiratory Therapy and other healthcare professional programs. The survey consisted of 21 items, and the students' perceptions were measured using a seven-point Likert scale ranging from 1 to 7. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) program, version 27 is used to analyze the data collected. Results: A total of 398 participants across four programs. Most participants were 338 female participants (84.9%) while 60 were male participants (15.1%). The majority of participants were Nursing students (n=145, 36.4%), followed by Respiratory Therapy (n=91, 22.9%), Occupational Therapy (n=82, 20.6%), and Physical Therapy (n=80, 20.1%). Furthermore, the study revealed that 80 participants (20.1%) self-reported having been diagnosed with asthma, while 318 participants (79.9%) indicated no history of asthma diagnosis. The main results of this study revealed that healthcare students had positive perceptions toward asthma management guidelines. In addition, students who self-reported having asthma rated their awareness of causes, signs, and symptoms and their understanding of asthma treatment significantly higher than non-asthmatic students. The findings from this research showed that there were significant differences in familiarity regarding asthma guidelines between respiratory therapy students and other healthcare students (p<0.001). Conclusion: Healthcare students have positive perceptions regarding asthma management guidelines. Respiratory therapy students exhibited the highest confidence levels compared to other healthcare student programs. Followed by nursing students, occupational therapy students, and physical therapy students who showed the lowest confidence levels among all programs. Further, the current study's findings support the theory that students who self-reported having asthma showed higher levels of awareness toward causes, signs, and symptoms, and their understanding of asthma treatment was also higher than non-asthmatic students.

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