Competency revalidation study of specialty practice in sports physical therapy

Every ten years the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties conducts a practice analysis to revalidate and revise the description of specialty practice for sports physical therapy (SPT). The primary purpose of this paper is to describe the process and results of the most recent analysis, which defines the competencies that distinguish the subspecialty practice of (SPT). Additionally, the study allowed for the comparison of responses of board certified specialists in SPT to respondents who were not specialists while reflecting on demographic changes and evolving trends since the previous analysis of this physical therapy specialty practice was conducted 10 years ago.

A survey instrument based on guidelines from the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties was developed by the Sports Specialty Council (SSC) and a panel of subject matter experts (SME) in SPT to re-evaluate contemporary practice. The instrument was pilot tested and following revisions, was sent to 1780 physical therapists, 930 of whom were board certified specialists in SPT and 850 of whom were randomly selected members of the Sports Physical Therapy Section (SPTS) who were not board certified specialists in SPT. 414 subjects returned completed surveys for a 23% response rate. 235 of the respondents were known to be board certified sports specialists, 120 did not indicate their specialty status, and 35 were non-specialists in SPT. All were members of the SPTS of the American Physical Therapy Association. The survey responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Univariate comparisons were performed using parametric and nonparametric statistical tests in order to evaluate differences between specialist and non-specialist item responses.

The survey results were reviewed by the SSC and a panel of SME. Using a defined decision making process, the results were used to determine the competencies that define the specialty practice of SPT. Survey results were also used to develop the SPT specialty board examination blueprint and define the didactic curriculum required of accredited SPT residency programs. A number of significant comparisons between the specialists and non-specialists were identified.

The competency revalidation process culminated in the publication of the 4th edition of the Sports Physical Therapy Description of Specialty Practice in November of 2013. This document serves to guide the process related to the attainment and maintenance of the board certified clinical specialization in SPT. In anticipation of the continued evolution of this specialty practice, this process will be repeated every 10 years to reassess the characteristics of these providers and the factors they consider critically important and unique to the practice of SPT.