Article

We determined the extent and nature of stigma exhibited by a sample of
Canadian cardiorespiratory physiotherapists toward people with lung disease who
had a smoking history. Method: A quantitative online survey was distributed to
Canadian cardiorespiratory physiotherapists, and an anti-smoking attitudes
questionnaire was used to measure explicit stigma. We used two case studies with
questions to measure implicit stigma. The first involved a patient with chronic
obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and a smoking history, and the second
described a patient with COPD with no smoking history. Results: Of the
respondents (n=50), 56% demonstrated mild explicit stigma and 44% demonstrated
moderate to severe explicit stigma. The extent of explicit stigma was not
associated with respondents' age, area of practice, personal smoking history, or
family history of lung disease resulting from smoking. The results indicated no
evidence of implicit stigma, and no significant differences were found between
the participants' prospective treatments and their professional attitudes toward
patient cases. Conclusions: Canadian cardiorespiratory physiotherapists
demonstrated explicit stigma toward people with lung disease with a significant
smoking history, but there was no evidence of implicit stigma. These findings
suggest that further research is needed to investigate how stigma held by
cardiorespiratory physiotherapists may affect the quality of care provided for
patients with a smoking history.

Langue : ANGLAIS