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J. Pate1, E. Ilhan2, D. Kennedy1, A. Verhagen1, P. Stubbs1
1University of Technology Sydney, Discipline of Physiotherapy, Graduate School of Health, Sydney, Australia, 2Macquarie University, Department of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Sydney, Australia
Background: Pain science education for physiotherapy students is guided by the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) curriculum which aims to improve the ability of students to make evidence-based recommendations in the management of pain. Such education is only effective if students actually learn the intended concepts and knowledge around pain.
Purpose: To assess the difference in student’s concept of pain following a 14-week pain-science education subject, embedded in a graduate-entry Master of Physiotherapy degree in Australia.
Methods: All students starting their degree in 2020 and 2021 (n=129) were invited to participate in an anonymous survey. Students were asked to complete the survey using a web link or QR code 1) prior to the first week of classes (T0), and 2) in week 14 during the final week of classes of the semester (T1). Both surveys included a battery of questionnaires, including the Concept of Pain inventory for Adults (COPI-Adult). The COPI-Adult is a 13-item questionnaire and items were rated on a 5-point Likert scale from ‘Strongly Agree’ (0) to ‘Strongly Disagree’ (4), with an ‘Unsure’ (2) central option. The total COPI-Adult score ranges from 0-52, where higher scores represent better alignment of knowledge and beliefs with contemporary pain science. Data were anonymous and non-normally distributed, therefore summary data were presented as median and interquartile ranges (IQR). The Hodges-Lehman estimator was used to estimate the median difference and 95% Confidence Intervals (95%CI). We deemed a meaningful difference in the total COPI-Adult score as 15% of the scale range (7.8 points). A complete case analysis was performed.
Results: The response rate was 96% at T0 and 88% at T1. Median COPI-Adult scores at T0 were 39 (IQR: 36 to 44) and at T1 were 48 (IQR: 44 to 51). The Hodges-Lehman estimate between T1 and T0 was 8 (95%CI: 6 to 9).
Conclusions: Students had a better alignment in pain knowledge and beliefs with contemporary pain science following a 14-week pain science subject. The median improvement was marginally meaningful, and 95%CI indicate this difference varies between trivial to meaningful. This study shows that our pain science education subject improves pain science knowledge, although further work is needed to improve pain science knowledge and beliefs in physiotherapy students.
Implications: Students can change their knowledge and beliefs about pain over a 14-week subject embedded in a physiotherapy degree. If educators can understand particular deficits in student knowledge, pain science education programs could be more targeted in the future.
Funding acknowledgements: This work is unfunded
Keywords:
Pain education
Physiotherapy students
Concept of pain
Pain education
Physiotherapy students
Concept of pain
Topics:
Education
Pain & pain management
Education
Pain & pain management
Did this work require ethics approval? Yes
Institution: University of Technology Sydney
Committee: University of Technology Sydney Human Research Ethical Committee
Ethics number: ETH19-4542 and ETH21-6596
All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.
