German medical students' beliefs about how best to treat alcohol use disorder

TY - JOUR

T1 - German medical students' beliefs about how best to treat alcohol use disorder

AU - Krampe, Henning

AU - Strobel, Lisa

AU - Beard, Emma

AU - Anders, Sven

AU - West, Robert

AU - Raupach, Tobias

N1 - Copyright © 2013 S. Karger AG, Basel.

PY - 2013/1/1

Y1 - 2013/1/1

N2 - BACKGROUND/AIMS: A minority of German medical students believe they know how to support smokers willing to quit. This paper examined whether the same would be true for treating alcohol use disorder (AUD), and individual factors associated with incorrect beliefs about the effectiveness of methods to treat AUD.METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 19,526 undergraduate students from 27 German medical schools completed a survey addressing beliefs about the effectiveness of different methods of overcoming AUD. Beliefs about AUD treatment effectiveness were compared across the 5 years of undergraduate education and predictors identified by means of multiple linear regression.RESULTS: Even in the fifth year, 28.1% (95% CI: 26.5-29.7) of students believed that willpower alone was more effective for overcoming AUD than a comprehensive treatment program. The only significant predictor of this belief was a similar belief for stopping smoking.CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that a considerable proportion of German medical students overestimate the effectiveness of willpower to treat smoking and AUD. The addictive nature of these disorders needs to be stressed during undergraduate medical education to ensure that future physicians will be able and motivated to support patients in their quit attempts.

AB - BACKGROUND/AIMS: A minority of German medical students believe they know how to support smokers willing to quit. This paper examined whether the same would be true for treating alcohol use disorder (AUD), and individual factors associated with incorrect beliefs about the effectiveness of methods to treat AUD.METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 19,526 undergraduate students from 27 German medical schools completed a survey addressing beliefs about the effectiveness of different methods of overcoming AUD. Beliefs about AUD treatment effectiveness were compared across the 5 years of undergraduate education and predictors identified by means of multiple linear regression.RESULTS: Even in the fifth year, 28.1% (95% CI: 26.5-29.7) of students believed that willpower alone was more effective for overcoming AUD than a comprehensive treatment program. The only significant predictor of this belief was a similar belief for stopping smoking.CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that a considerable proportion of German medical students overestimate the effectiveness of willpower to treat smoking and AUD. The addictive nature of these disorders needs to be stressed during undergraduate medical education to ensure that future physicians will be able and motivated to support patients in their quit attempts.

KW - Alcohol-Related Disorders

KW - Attitude of Health Personnel

KW - Cross-Sectional Studies

KW - Female

KW - Germany

KW - Humans

KW - Male

KW - Motivation

KW - Questionnaires

KW - Self-Help Groups

KW - Students, Medical

KW - Substance Abuse Treatment Centers

KW - Treatment Outcome

U2 - 10.1159/000346672

DO - 10.1159/000346672

M3 - SCORING: Journal article

C2 - 23428902

VL - 19

SP - 245

EP - 251

JO - EUR ADDICT RES

JF - EUR ADDICT RES

SN - 1022-6877

IS - 5

ER -