Attitudes of French health professionals in child and adolescent psychiatry toward evidence-based practices

Paolo PICCOLO1, Lucie JUREK1,2, Gaelle BONNIS1, Gregory AARONS3,4, Marte RYE5, Marie-Maude GEOFFRAY1,2

1Département de psychiatrie de l’enfant et de l’adolescent du CHS le Vinatier, Bron, France.
2Research on Healthcare Performance (RESHAPE), U1290 INSERM - Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, France
3Department of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD)
4Director of the Child and Adolescent Services Research Center (CASRC) and Co-Director of the UC San Diego ACTRI Dissemination and Implementation Science Center (DISC).
5Regional Centre for Child and Youth Mental Health and Child Welfare, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway

Funds : CSR N03 CH le Vinatier 

Study Aims: Improving the implementation of evidence-based practices (EBP) must be at the heart of the health care system. The attitudes of practitioners toward EBP can impact the implementation of such practices. Our study aimed to validate the French version of the Evidence-Based Practice Attitudes Scale 36 (EBPAS-36F), to measure the level of attitude of professionals in child and adolescent psychiatry in France, and to study the factors that may be associated with the attitudes toward EBP in this context.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional observational study. Data were collected via an online survey distributed to medical, paramedical and educational professionals and students involved in diagnostic or care activities in child and adolescent psychiatry throughout France. We used a French language version of the EBPAS-36 scale, translated and back-translated for the study. Population and attitude characteristics were described and validation tests of the EBPAS-36F were performed. A multiple linear regression model was used to measure the association between attitudes and various individual and organizational factors.

Results: A total of 400 professionals answered at least one question and 211 respondents were included and completed all the items of the questionnaire. Validity and internal consistency of the EBPAS-36F were satisfactory. The mean attitude level in our population was 2.63 (95% CI = 2.57-2.69). Two factors were significantly associated with the attitude level: affiliation with a university center and employment in a tertiary care facility.

Conclusion: This study shows that attitude toward evidence-based practices in child and adolescent psychiatry in France is slightly lower to that of another European country. This first result and the validation in French of a scale to measure attitudes towards EBP will allow the development of protocols to improve health care professionals’ attitudes and the use of evidence-based practices in child and adolescent psychiatry in France.