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Published on: January 12, 2019
Perceived facilitators and barriers to routine utilisation of standardised outcome measures among physiotherapists in
Matthew Chiwaridzo1, Farirai Kamba1, Zenra Buys1
1University of Namibia, Faculty of Health Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, School of Allied Health Sciences, Department of Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy, Windhoek, Namibia.
Objective:
To determine the context-specific perceived facilitators and barriers to routine utilisation of standardised outcome measures (SOMs) by physiotherapists (PTs) in Namibia.
Design:
Questionnaire-based cross-sectional survey.
Setting:
Private or public clinics/hospitals in Namibia.
Participants:
Practising physiotherapists.
Main Outcome Measures:
The study evaluated "routine" utilisation of SOMs operationally defined as using SOMs for 70% to 100% of the time in clinical practice. The study also determined the perceived facilitators and barriers to the routine utilisation.
Results:
Of the 99 respondents, 96 (96.9%) had complete questionnaires. The majority of participants were female (n=64, 66.7%), had a Bachelor's degree (n=86, 89.6%), trained outside Namibia (n=82, 85.4%), and were practising as private practitioners (n=74, 77.1%). About half of the participants (n=47, 49.0%) "routinely" used SOMs, especially impairment-based tools. The most common reasons for SOMs utilisation were tool affordability and availability. However, about a quarter (n=41, 43.6%) were strongly deterred from using SOMs because of the language of construction of the tool, whilst 36.2% (n=34) highlighted that most SOMs had a higher reading proficiency than the patient population. Time-related barriers were also perceived by 34.0% (n=32) of the participants.
Conclusions:
Routine utilisation of SOMs by PTs is below average in Namibia, primarily due to tool-related factors, such as the language of construction.
Funding:
None declared.
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