Physiotherapy skills in the difference of years of therapists’ experience and affiliations

Abstract

In Japan, a physiotherapist is considered to be ‘experienced’ and having sufficient time in the field, regardless of their level, efficacy, or quality of training, after five years of practice. However, this definition is insufficient for establishing quality and uniformity among physiotherapists in Japan. The purpose of this study was to establish the groundwork for standardisation in education and evaluation. It aimed to evaluate physiotherapy skills by means of a Weight Shift (WS) practical assessment task. Participants of this study included 10 physiotherapists from two institutions. The WS task was repeated three times on a simulated patient. The ground reaction force (GRF) of the simulated patient was recorded during the task. The ratio of the centre of pressure (COP) displacement was calculated by dividing the COP displacement by the distance between the centre of pressure of both feet of the simulated patient to normalise. Correlational statistical analysis was used to confirm whether years of experience changes the degree of WS. The obtained data was compared between the institutions of therapists. The results of this study confirm that the correlation between the data obtained and years of therapists’ experience is weak or absent. There were significant differences between each institution’s ratios for COP displacement as well as for the maximum GRF. It was considered that years of therapists’ experience does not necessarily correlate with physiotherapy skill, especially if participants had six or more years of experience. Greater differences were observed between institutions with regards to the characteristics of physiotherapy skill.