Role of physical therapists in the neonatal intensive care units: a case study at provincial hospitals in the north, central and south of Thailand

Abstract

There is no specific role for physical therapists in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) regulated by the physical therapy council of Thailand. Additionally, only one study has reported the role of physical therapy in NICU among the provincial hospitals in the North East, which did not reflect the role across the whole of Thailand. Thus, the aim of this study was to examine the roles, needs and areas of knowledge to be improved of physical therapists who have worked in NICU at the provincial hospitals at other parts (the north, central and south) of Thailand. Questionnaires were sent to 48 physical therapy departments, where there are physiotherapists who have worked in NICU, at the provincial hospitals by post. There were 120 physical therapists who have worked in NICU. The return rate was 80% (96 out of 120). The physical therapists were asked to rate the frequency of each role with a score between 1 (the lowest frequency) and 4 (the highest frequency). The results showed that the most significant role of physical therapist assessment in NICU was chest physiotherapy (observation, palpation and auscultation) at 3.93±0.30 while the least significant was standard screening tools for neonates at 1.27±0.64. For physical therapy treatment role, chest physiotherapy techniques were the most significant role applied in NICU (3.92±0.35), while the lowest frequency was behavior management (1.41±0.78). The other highest role was physical therapy practical teaching for physical therapy students (1.72±1.06). The most common topic which physical therapists wanted to be improved in NICU was clinical practice guidelines. The results from this study were consistent with the previous study in the North East of Thailand. Thus, from these results it was concluded that the main physical therapy role in NICU in Thailand is chest physical therapy and there are still some physical therapy roles to be developed in NICU, especially in the area of clinical practice guidelines. The results from this study could be used to develop the training program and physical therapy undergraduate curriculum to improve physical therapists’ ability to work in the NICU.

Key words: Role, Physical Therapist, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit