A Study of Knowledge, Attitude, and Evidence-based Practice of Physical Therapists After Postgraduate Physical Therapy Program in Thailand
Keywords:
Evidence-based practice, Physiotherapy, Postgraduate program, SurveysAbstract
The use of evidence-based practice (EBP) is an important component to improve the quality of treatment in physical therapy. This study aimed to: 1. explore the level of knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of EBP and to identify the relationship between these variables among Thai physical therapists after completing a postgraduate physical therapy programme in Thailand; and 2. to study the associations between personal-work characteristics and the level of knowledge, attitude, and practice of EBP. An online questionnaire was used to obtain information from the samples of 215 physical therapists. Completed questionnaires were returned by 82 physical therapists (response rate of 38.14%). Descriptive statistics were used to report the responses. Spearman’s rank correlation statistic and Chi-Square test were used to determine the association. The results indicate that the physical therapists’ levels of knowledge, attitude, and practice of EBP were good, excellent, and excellent, respectively. Knowledge had a significantly positive correlation with both attitude (moderate level, rs=0.724, p < 0.001) and practice of EBP (low level, rs=0.454, p 0. < 001). Attitude had a significant moderate positive correlation with practice of EBP (rs=0.749, p < 0.001). The personal-work characteristics, such as degree of education, workplace, and average number patients per day, were significantly correlated with the level of knowledge, attitude, and practice of EBP among physical therapists after completing a postgraduate physical therapy programme (from 2002 to 2019) in Thailand. Therefore, embedding EBP education coursework in the core curriculum for postgraduate physical therapy programme is an important component to improve the quality of treatment in the physical therapy educational system.
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