A Web-based Survey on the Telerehabilitation Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice of Physical Therapists in a Developing Country during the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Analytical Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Background and Objective. Pre-pandemic, various healthcare settings were not used to seeing patients virtually. The unprecedented need to adopt virtual care during the COVID-19 pandemic may have caught physical therapists (PTs) unready for it. This study aimed to determine the telerehabilitation knowledge, attitude, and practice of PTs in the Philippines during the COVID-19 pandemic and determine the association between demographic and study outcome variables.

Methods. This is an analytical cross-sectional study among members of the Philippine Physical Therapy Association, Inc. (PPTA) practicing in the Philippines. Purposive sampling (total enumeration) was employed. All PPTA members were invited to the study through e-mail and official social media group chats. A self-administered questionnaire was used to obtain data on telerehabilitation knowledge (through test questions on various theoretical aspects), attitude, and practice.

Results. The questionnaire items had a content validity index of >0.80. The study yielded a 40% response rate.
Most respondents were practicing clinicians in urban-based, private rehabilitation centers. Approximately half had average telerehabilitation knowledge, while the majority had agreeable telerehabilitation attitudes across different constructs. Among the respondents, 15.9% used telerehabilitation pre-pandemic, while 64.8% used it during the pandemic. Hybrid (synchronous and asynchronous) telerehabilitation sessions usually lasted one hour per patient, mostly using Facebook Messenger.

Conclusion. Telerehabilitation was not widely practiced locally pre-pandemic, which may explain their average
telerehabilitation knowledge. The positive telerehabilitation attitudes may represent a small group of PTs favoring telerehabilitation, while information from the larger population remains unknown. Early adopters of telerehabilitation may help introduce virtual care to colleagues and guide them in developing relevant knowledge and skills amid and beyond the enduring COVID-19 crisis.