0565 Examining obstructive sleep apnea knowledge and attitudes of providers in southern West Virginia

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Abstract Introduction Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) syndrome is a common but underdiagnosed clinical problem with multiple health implications. The rising prevalence of OSA has been linked to increasing obesity. Because the obesity rate of West Virginia (WV) is almost 40%, successful identification and treatment of OSA is essential to improving the health of WV communities. Our previous work demonstrated that OSA is ineffectively managed in our rural communities. This study aimed to evaluate OSA knowledge and attitudes of primary care providers (PCPs) practicing at Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) serving rural communities with significant health disparity in southern WV. Methods We assessed OSA knowledge and attitudes of 14 PCPs in southern WV (n=6 physicians and 8 mid-level providers; 53.2 + 12.2 years of age; 78% female) practicing at FQHC. The OSA Knowledge and Attitudes (OSAKA) questionnaire assesses providers’ knowledge via 18 true-false statements and importance and attitude via five Likert. OSA attitudes are assessed via two items for importance of OSA and three items for confidence in identifying and treating OSA. Results No respondents answered the 18-knowledge portion with 100% accuracy (mean = 14.3). Mann Whitney U tests were then used to compare Physicians’ and mid-level providers’ years in practice and OSAKA responses. Knowledge scores in physicians (Mdn = 16) significantly differed from mid-level providers scores (Mdn = 13.5) in our sample (U = 5.5, p < 0.05, r = -0.66). OSAKA Importance and Confidence questions revealed that PCPs felt OSA identification was important, but were not confident in their ability to manage OSA. Conclusion Our results demonstrate that rural PCPs have fairly good knowledge of OSA in general but lack knowledge in specific domains. Interestingly, providers feel OSA is an important disease and were fairly knowledgeable with the disease, but lacked confidence to manage OSA. Further explanatory studies are warranted to more robustly examine these findings. Our prior work demonstrates sleep apnea is ineffectively managed in the region. Thus, targeted training and further engagement with rural providers may well address disparity in OSA management for Appalachian communities. Support (If Any) (NIH/NIGMS 5U54GM104942-03).