Alcohol-related knowledge, beliefs and attitudes among health and clerical personnel

Health personnel has been thought to pay too little attention to alcohol-related problems. Knowledge, attitudes and beliefs related to alcohol were studied among 225 physicians, 296 nurses, and 279 clerical employees. Knowledge scores were constructed by giving one point for every correct answer. For knowledge on alcoholic beverages and biological facts (11 questions), the mean scores were: physicians 7.7, nurses 6.7, and clerical employees 6.5. For etiologic knowledge (12 items), the means were: physicians 8.6, nurses 6.9, and clerical employees 6.3. The respective scores for prognostic knowledge (9 items) were: physicians 6.8, nurses 6.3, clerical employees 5.5. For knowledge on prevention and treatment the mean scores were: physicians 2.7, nurses 2.2 and clerical personnel 2.3. Physicians had more permissive attitudes towards alcohol use in various social situations and were less likely to recommend compulsory treatment than nurses or clerical employees. With respect to the prevention of alcohol problems, all groups considered face-to-face health education to be the most effective approach, followed by radio and TV education, and then voluntary treatment. Beverage price increases were regarded to be the least effective approach by nurses and clerical employees, while physicians felt that the press was the least likely source of enlightenment. Knowledge was only remotely related to age, marital status and permissive attitudes. Health personnel knew more about alcohol-related problems than lay people, but there is room for further improvement.