G. Nepal1, S. Poudel1, B. Chowdhary2, S. Sharma1, I. Bimali1, R. Acharya1
1Kathmandu University School of Medical Sciences, Department of Physiotherapy, Dhulikhel, Nepal, 2Nepal Mediciti Hospital, Department of Physiotherapy, Lalitpur, Nepal
Background: With increasing scope and extent of physiotherapy practice, stronger and coordinated workforce is required globally. While workforce related data are available from some high-income countries, such information from Nepal would help to mobilise appropriate resources in the areas necessary and inform policy related to physiotherapy workforce within the country.
Purpose: The main aim of the study was to describe the physiotherapy workforce in Nepal. Specifically, we aimed to describe Nepalese physiotherapists’ demographic characteristics (age, gender), years of practice, educational background, areas of practice (employment), and job satisfaction.
Methods: We developed the questionnaire following recommended guidelines which was categorized under four domains namely demographics, education, employment, and job satisfaction. The questionnaire was made available online on the official websites of The Nepal Health Professional Council (NHPC) and Nepal Physiotherapy Association (NEPTA). We recruited all the Nepalese physiotherapists who responded to the survey and provided consent from February 2018 to February 2019.
Results: Out of 1120 physiotherapist who were contacted via email, 52% (M=293, F=287) physiotherapists responded to the survey. A majority of the participants (75%) were between 20 to 30 years of age. Seventy-four percentage of physiotherapists held bachelor's degree and 24% had Master’s degree. A majority of physiotherapists (80%)were employed at the time of data collection with 58% having 1 to 4 years of experience. The majority (79%) practised in Central Development Region (where the capital, Kathmandu is located). Only 11% of the physiotherapists were practising in public health system (government hospitals)although 37% of all hospitals in Nepal are public. Almost half (46%) worked in private hospitals and remaining 43% in private clinics, rehabilitation centres, community and university settings. Most of the physiotherapist (56%) reported treating 10 to 15 patients per day and spending more than 40 hours per week for patient care. Services provided by the therapist included patient care (91%), counselling (1%) and training (1%). More than half of the physiotherapist (53%) reported that they were underpaid compared to their fellow workers and 41% were not satisfied with their current job status. Ninety percentage of participants worked in musculoskeletal practice, followed by adult neurology (67%), sports (47%), geriatrics (44%), paediatrics (42%), and intensive care (36%). Majority (96%) of the physiotherapist suggested that autonomy, job promotion, recognition, increased demand, respect and proper remuneration can contribute to job satisfaction.
Conclusion(s): A majority of physiotherapy workforce in Nepal is young and at early career stage. Majority work at private settings and very few work in public settings. Most physiotherapists are concentrated near Kathmandu. A majority of physiotherapists reported under-pay and were unsatisfied of their job.
Implications: This is the first workforce survey of physiotherapists in Nepal. The findings suggest that distribution of workforce across geographical areas and public settings is necessary. Similar survey in the future will help understand physiotherapy changes in the workforce over time. If similar methods are used in other countries, between country differences in physiotherapy workforce can be identified.
Funding, acknowledgements: None
Keywords: Baseline survey, Physiotherapy, Workforce
Topic: Professional issues
Did this work require ethics approval? Yes
Institution: Kathmandu University
Committee: Institutional Review Committee of Kathmandu University School of Medical Sciences
Ethics number: 56/12
All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.
