File
T. Shousha1,2, A. Javed1, A. Bekhet2, A.M. Jahan3,4, M. Alayat5,2, M. Alshehri5,6, I. Moustafa1,2
1College of Health Sciences, University of Sharjah, Physiotherapy, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, 2Faculty of Physical Therapy / Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt, 3School of Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada, 4College of Medical Technology, Misrata, Libya, 5College of Applied Medical Sciences, Umm Al Qura University, Physiotherapy, Mekkah, Saudi Arabia, 6Centre of Clinical Research Excellence in Spinal Pain, Injury& Health, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
Background: Evidence based practice (EBP) is a theme that is fast emerging and evolving in the field of rehabilitation and physiotherapy. This can be attributed to increasing volume and accessibility to high quality research. Despite there being clear benefits to using EBP, its uptake within physiotherapy and other healthcare domains remains inconsistent with numerous barriers identified in literature. Barriers include lack of time, difficulty in appraising
literature, low levels of self-efficacy towards EBP activities and negative perceptions about research. Although EBP topics are covered in the Egyptian Physiotherapy education programs, the adherence to standard guidelines of assessment from therapists’ within the country has not been reported in literature Actually, few studies exist regarding the attitudes and behaviours of Egyptian physical therapists in relation to the use of evidence in practice.
literature, low levels of self-efficacy towards EBP activities and negative perceptions about research. Although EBP topics are covered in the Egyptian Physiotherapy education programs, the adherence to standard guidelines of assessment from therapists’ within the country has not been reported in literature Actually, few studies exist regarding the attitudes and behaviours of Egyptian physical therapists in relation to the use of evidence in practice.
Purpose: To describe the beliefs, attitudes, knowledge, and behaviours of Egyptian physical therapists as they relate to evidence-based practice. It also explores their perception of possible barriers to implement EBP.
Methods: A cross-sectional design with a sample of convenience was adopted to investigate the beliefs, attitudes, knowledge, and behaviours of physiotherapists. The participants of the study were male and female Egyptian physiotherapists working either in an academic setting or in clinical practice, however physiotherapy students not yet graduated or doing their internship were excluded. In order to achieve the research aim, a valid and reliable survey was used, adopted from ta previous study that looked at Physiotherapists’ behaviour, attitudes, awareness, knowledge and barriers to EBP in Saudi Arabia.
Results: 470 Egyptian therapists responded to our questionnaire with results revealing participants’ awareness towards EBP was quite diverse. Only terms of systematic review and randomized controlled trial were well understood while remaining terms showed various level of comprehension which were rather low. Results also revealed significant correlations between attitudes towards EBP and overall awareness as well as attitudes and knowledge (r=0.270 and 0.107) respectively. In addition, a significant relationship was also found between EBP awareness and knowledge with (r= 0.219). With regards to the barriers, insufficient teaching in previous education was identified as the primary barrier (34.4%), followed by lack of funding and resources (31.1%), while lack of time (10.2%) was reported as the least.
Conclusions: This study concluded that although Egyptian physiotherapists claim their awareness of EBP, nevertheless, knowledge is limited to a few key terms whereas, more attention is required to improve EBP knowledge and practice.
Implications: These barriers highlight the need to improve the adoption of EBP among Egyptian Physiotherapists
Funding acknowledgements: This research did not receive any funding
Keywords:
Evidence-based
Attitude
Barrier
Evidence-based
Attitude
Barrier
Topics:
Education: continuing professional development
Education: clinical
Globalisation: health systems, policies & strategies
Education: continuing professional development
Education: clinical
Globalisation: health systems, policies & strategies
Did this work require ethics approval? Yes
Institution: Faculty of Physical Therapy - Cairo University
Committee: Faculty of Physical Therapy Research Ethics Committee
Ethics number: P. T.REC/011/003867
All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.
