Measuring readiness for disaster response in physiotherapy education: development and validation predisposition...

The increasing frequency of emergencies, disasters, and humanitarian crises underscores the need for a health workforce adequately prepared to respond across disaster management continuum. Within this context, physiotherapists play an essential role in post-disaster care, yet evidence on students' readiness for emergency, disaster, and humanitarian action (EDHA) remains limited. This study aimed to develop and content-validate an assessment tool and examine physiotherapy students' predisposition, perceived competence, and readiness to assume functional roles in EDHA contexts. A two-phase study was adopted. Phase 1 comprised instrument development, including a 12-item questionnaire organized into three conceptual domains assessing predisposition, perceived competence, and readiness to assume functional roles in EDHA contexts. Content validation was performed using a two-round expert panel process with 12 experts, and pre-testing. Phase 2, a cross-sectional design, involved administering the final questionnaire to 126 undergraduate physiotherapy students from six Portuguese higher education institutions. The instrument demonstrated excellent content validity (S-CVI/Ave = 0.98). Although a majority of students reported interest in EDHA contexts (61.9%), only 35.7% felt adequately prepared. Results from the assessment tool showed high self-reported interpersonal preparedness, with 96.8% of students rating empathy and 92.9% collaboration as "good" or "very good." In contrast, 57.2% reported positive ratings for leadership. A substantial competence gap was observed in technical domains: 60.3% of participants considered themselves not or only slightly capable of delivering specialized rehabilitation training, and 42.1% reported low confidence in training peers to identify rehabilitation needs. Similarly, low perceived competence was reported in psychological first aid and burn management. Predisposition to work in disaster contexts did not differ significantly across academic years [ESSAlcoitão: χ²(2) = 0.287, p = 0.866; other institutions: χ²(2) = 0.200, p = 0.905]. Furthermore, 64.3% of students considered curricular preparation insufficient. By providing a validated instrument that captures a composite construct of predisposition, perceived competence, and functional role readiness, this study offers a tool for monitoring educational needs and evaluating the impact of curricular reforms. The identified readiness-competence gap reinforces the urgency of integrating structured, competency-based EDHA training within undergraduate physiotherapy curricula, thereby strengthening public health preparedness and contributing to more resilient health systems in the face of increasingly frequent emergencies and disasters.