The Digital Competences of Exercise Therapists in Obesity Care: A Step Towards Digital Sovereignty Assessed with the...

Digital obesity therapy requires exercise therapists with adequate digital competences, yet training opportunities remain limited. This study provides the first application of the DigCompThExO questionnaire to assess exercise therapists' digital competences and their predictors in obesity therapy, addressing digital sovereignty as an educational outcome and informing future training programs.

A cross-sectional online survey assessed self-perceived digital competences among German-speaking exercise therapists in obesity care using the validated DigCompThExO questionnaire (14 items). Descriptive and regression analyses examined personal (age, gender, qualification) and contextual (type of therapy, therapeutic targets) predictors of overall digital competence, with correction for multiple testing.

Of 203 therapists (mean age 33.3 ± 5.9 years), 'Teaching Strategies' yielded the highest scores, 'Selection Criteria' the lowest. Regression analysis (n = 202) accounted for a substantial proportion of variance in overall digital competence (R² = 0.801, adjusted R² = 0.790, p < 0.001), with the digitally pursued therapeutic target body awareness emerging as significant predictor (B = 0.18, p_FDR = 0.003).

This study provides initial insights into the digital competence profiles of exercise therapists in obesity therapy. In exploratory analysis, the therapeutic target of digitally fostering body awareness was the only predictor that remained significant after correction. The findings suggest that targeted education in data protection, media reflection, and the communication of exercise-related therapeutic targets may be relevant to support digital competence development.