Santos JJA1,2, Nascimento F2, Santos MCA3
1Universidade Paranaense - UNIPAR, Physical Therapy, Toledo, Brazil, 2Reab Plus Fisioterapia, Physical Therapy, Toledo, Brazil, 3Universidade do Oeste Paulista - UNOESTE, Physical Therapy, Presidente Prudente, Brazil
Background: Mental well-being is directly related to the levels of mental and overall health of a population. Mental health is characterized as a state of well-being in which an individual presents the ability to recognize their own capabilities, and is thus able to deal with stressful situations, to work productively and to contribute to the community. Physical therapeutic treatment may be an instrument for improving the mental well-being of an individual, however, few studies analyze this topic.
Purpose: To identify differences in levels of mental well-being in individuals undergoing Physical Therapy (PT) in a Brazilian university facility regardless of area of PT actuation and their correlation among clinical outcomes.
Methods: The study included 37 participants of both genders who have been undergoing PT treatment for a variety of conditions (8% cardiopulmonary, 3% dermatology, 30% geriatrics, 19% hydrotherapy, 8% neurology, 32% orthopedics) in a university facility. The following outcome measures were administered prior to and at the conclusion of physical therapy episode of care: Daily Life Activities - DLA (Lawton's Scale), level of satisfaction with PT ranging from 0 (totally dissatisfied) 10 (fully satisfied), pain levels (Visual Analogic Pain Scale) and mental well-being (Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale), average time of treatment was 6 months. All variables followed Gaussian distribution and we then compared the mental well-being scores with the other outcome measures. T-tests and Person correlation statistics were used to analyze the data (p 0.05).
Results: The satisfaction with PT showed no differences with an initial average of 9.1 ± 1.4 and a final score of 9.3 ± 1.0 points; pain level decreased (5.88±3 to 4.58±3.24; p 0.05) and simultaneously the levels of mental well-being and DLA improved. Initial well-being level was 57.3±7.88 and after treatment 60.08±8.76 (p 0.05); initial DLA levels were 23.81±3.50 and final levels were 24.73±3.32 (p 0.05). A statistically significant inverse correlation was found between final levels of mental well-being and final pain scores and DLA (-0.55; p 0.05).
Conclusion(s): In a sample of patients who underwent physical therapy treatment, reported decreased pain levels and increased performance of activities of daily living are related to improved mental well-being scores.
Implications: The improved outcomes in PT treatment are related to improved mental well-being. These findings demonstrate that PT treatment can contribute to the patients´ overall health and not only to the locomotor, neurological and physical conditioning aspects.
Keywords: Mental Health, Well-being, Physical Therapy
Funding acknowledgements: This study was supported by Scientific Initiation Scholarship Program of the Universidade Paranaense (UNIPAR).
Purpose: To identify differences in levels of mental well-being in individuals undergoing Physical Therapy (PT) in a Brazilian university facility regardless of area of PT actuation and their correlation among clinical outcomes.
Methods: The study included 37 participants of both genders who have been undergoing PT treatment for a variety of conditions (8% cardiopulmonary, 3% dermatology, 30% geriatrics, 19% hydrotherapy, 8% neurology, 32% orthopedics) in a university facility. The following outcome measures were administered prior to and at the conclusion of physical therapy episode of care: Daily Life Activities - DLA (Lawton's Scale), level of satisfaction with PT ranging from 0 (totally dissatisfied) 10 (fully satisfied), pain levels (Visual Analogic Pain Scale) and mental well-being (Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale), average time of treatment was 6 months. All variables followed Gaussian distribution and we then compared the mental well-being scores with the other outcome measures. T-tests and Person correlation statistics were used to analyze the data (p 0.05).
Results: The satisfaction with PT showed no differences with an initial average of 9.1 ± 1.4 and a final score of 9.3 ± 1.0 points; pain level decreased (5.88±3 to 4.58±3.24; p 0.05) and simultaneously the levels of mental well-being and DLA improved. Initial well-being level was 57.3±7.88 and after treatment 60.08±8.76 (p 0.05); initial DLA levels were 23.81±3.50 and final levels were 24.73±3.32 (p 0.05). A statistically significant inverse correlation was found between final levels of mental well-being and final pain scores and DLA (-0.55; p 0.05).
Conclusion(s): In a sample of patients who underwent physical therapy treatment, reported decreased pain levels and increased performance of activities of daily living are related to improved mental well-being scores.
Implications: The improved outcomes in PT treatment are related to improved mental well-being. These findings demonstrate that PT treatment can contribute to the patients´ overall health and not only to the locomotor, neurological and physical conditioning aspects.
Keywords: Mental Health, Well-being, Physical Therapy
Funding acknowledgements: This study was supported by Scientific Initiation Scholarship Program of the Universidade Paranaense (UNIPAR).
Topic: Mental health; Health promotion & wellbeing/healthy ageing; Outcome measurement
Ethics approval required: Yes
Institution: Universidade Paranaense (UNIPAR)
Ethics committee: Human Research Ethics Committee
Ethics number: 872.26
All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.
