Abstract / Summary
Abstract This cross-sectional study aimed to examine the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) related to pulmonary function testing (PFT) among patients presenting with cough. Self-designed KAP questionnaire was conducted at Ruijin Hospital, involving 387 patients between 24 June 2024 and 7 March 2025. Participants were mostly female (53.0%) and aged 35–54 years (47.5%). The majority were married (82.9%) and lived in urban areas (88.6%). Regarding cough duration, 37.7% reported ≥ 8 weeks and 35.7% <3 weeks. Most had never smoked (84.2%). For prior pulmonary function testing (PFT), 39.3% reported undergoing testing within 1 year. The mean ± SD knowledge and attitudes scores were 21.53 ± 6.66 (possible range: 0–23), 30.48 ± 3.76 (possible range: 8–40), respectively. Adherence to routine pulmonary function testing was observed in 57.9% of patients. In multivariate analysis, higher knowledge scores (OR = 1.080, 95%CI: 1.037–1.124, P < 0.001) and attitude scores (OR = 1.133, 95%CI: 1.052–1.220, P = 0.001) were significantly associated with increased PFT adherence. Conversely, a lower Body Mass Index was associated with active practice (< 18.5: OR = 13.413, P = 0.013), though this warrants cautious interpretation due to the small subgroup size. Additionally, employees from enterprises showed significantly higher adherence (OR = 4.353, P = 0.009). Patients presenting with cough showed good awareness of general PFT concepts but poor understanding of specialized pulmonary function tests, also, patients showed passive attitudes and suboptimal practices toward pulmonary function testing.