Journal Article

Application of latent class analysis in assessing the awareness, attitude, practice and satisfaction of paediatricians on sleep disorder management in children in Italy

Cilluffo, Giovanna, Niespolo, Alessandra Cristina, Nosetti, Luana, Paglietti, Maria Giovanna, Masini, Luigi, Zaffanello, Marco, Ferrante, Giuliana, Pavone, Martino, Verrillo, Elisabetta, Cutrera, Renato, Brunetti, Luigia, La Grutta, Stefania, Broggi, Giacomo

2020

Overview

To identify subgroups regarding paediatricians' awareness, attitude, practice and satisfaction about management of Sleep-Disordered Breathing (SDB) in Italy using Latent Class Analysis (LCA). A cross-sectional study was conducted on a large sample of Italian paediatricians. Using a self-administered questionnaire, the study collected information on 420 Paediatric Hospital Paediatricians (PHPs) and 594 Family Care Paediatricians (FCPs). LCA was used to discover underlying response patterns, thus allowing identification of respondent groups with similar awareness, attitude, practice and satisfaction. A logistic regression model was used to investigate which independent variables influenced latent class membership. Analyses were performed using R 3.5.2 software. A p-value<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Two classes were identified: Class 1 (n = 368, 36.29%) \"Untrained and poorly satisfied\" and Class 2 (n = 646, 63.71%) \"Trained and satisfied.\" Involving paediatric pneumologists or otorhinolaryngologists in clinical practice was associated with an increased probability of Class 2 membership (OR = 5.88, 95%CI [2.94-13.19]; OR = 15.95, 95% CI [10.92-23.81] respectively). Examining more than 20 children with SDB during the last month decreased the probability of Class 2 membership (OR = 0.29, 95% CI [0.14-0.61]). FCPs showed a higher probability of Class 2 membership than PHPs (OR = 4.64, 95% CI [3.31-6.55]). These findings suggest that the LCA approach can provide important information on how education and training could be tailored for different subgroups of paediatricians. In Italy standardized educational interventions improving paediatricians' screening of SDB are needed in order to guarantee efficient management of children with SDB and reduce the burden of disease.

• Publisher: Public Library of Science,Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subject: Attitudes / Child / Children / Children's hospitals / Clinical medicine / Cross-Sectional Studies / Disease control / Diseases / Education / Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice / Hospitals / Hospitals, Pediatric - standards / Humans / Independent variables / Italy / Knowledge / Latent Class Analysis / Management / Medical personnel / Medicine and Health Sciences / Pediatricians / Pediatricians - psychology / Pediatricians - standards / Pediatricians - statistics & numerical data / Pediatrics / Pediatrics - education / Pediatrics - standards / People and Places / Personal Satisfaction / Physicians / Pilot Projects / Practice Guidelines as Topic - standards / Practice Patterns, Physicians' - standards / Primary care / Principal components analysis / Professionals / Questionnaires / Regression analysis / Regression models / Research and Analysis Methods / Sleep / Sleep Apnea Syndromes - therapy / Sleep disorders / Statistical analysis / Studies / Subgroups / Surveys and Questionnaires / Task forces / Training