{"title":"The knowledge, attitudes and perceptions of physiotherapists and chiropractors in South Africa.","authors":"Micaela Ravidutt, Sonill Mahara","doi":"10.4102/sajp.v80i1.1922","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Effective healthcare delivery occurs when health professionals collaborate and provide holistic, patient-centred care. Physiotherapists and chiropractors treat a common range of patients with an overlap in their scope of practice and modalities because of typical healthcare roles that could lead to 'perceived' animosity.</p><p><strong>Objectives: </strong>To assess the knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions of qualified chiropractors and physiotherapists regarding each other's practice.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>A cross-sectional survey using an online questionnaire and analysed descriptively.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Participants were chiropractors (<i>n</i> = 116) and physiotherapists (<i>n</i> = 190). Chiropractors achieved a mean knowledge score of 75.7%, with physiotherapists at 59.7% on the assessments of each other's patients; an average score of 85.3% and 72.0% respectively, on knowledge of treatment modalities; knowledge score of 82.4% and 77.3% respectively, on the conditions treated by the other professional. A total of 82.8% (<i>n</i> = 96) of chiropractors and 70.0% (<i>n</i> = 133) of physiotherapists indicated the other professionals' competence in treating neuromusculoskeletal conditions. Inter-professional referrals occurred between 81.9% of chiropractors (<i>n</i> = 95) and 55.3% of physiotherapists (<i>n</i> = 105). Chiropractors (69.0%, <i>n</i> = 80) and physiotherapists (55.3%, <i>n</i> = 105) wanted to collaborate to manage patients.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>In the surveyed population in South Africa, chiropractors and physiotherapists had good knowledge, positive attitudes and perceptions of each other's practices, especially in the private sector.</p><p><strong>Clinical implications: </strong>Inter-professional collaboration between chiropractors and physiotherapists should be encouraged so that healthcare delivery can be holistic and patient-centred for better clinical outcomes.</p>","PeriodicalId":44180,"journal":{"name":"South African Journal of Physiotherapy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-02-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10913180/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"South African Journal of Physiotherapy","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.4102/sajp.v80i1.1922","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2024/1/1 0:00:00","PubModel":"eCollection","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"REHABILITATION","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: Effective healthcare delivery occurs when health professionals collaborate and provide holistic, patient-centred care. Physiotherapists and chiropractors treat a common range of patients with an overlap in their scope of practice and modalities because of typical healthcare roles that could lead to 'perceived' animosity.
Objectives: To assess the knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions of qualified chiropractors and physiotherapists regarding each other's practice.
Method: A cross-sectional survey using an online questionnaire and analysed descriptively.
Results: Participants were chiropractors (n = 116) and physiotherapists (n = 190). Chiropractors achieved a mean knowledge score of 75.7%, with physiotherapists at 59.7% on the assessments of each other's patients; an average score of 85.3% and 72.0% respectively, on knowledge of treatment modalities; knowledge score of 82.4% and 77.3% respectively, on the conditions treated by the other professional. A total of 82.8% (n = 96) of chiropractors and 70.0% (n = 133) of physiotherapists indicated the other professionals' competence in treating neuromusculoskeletal conditions. Inter-professional referrals occurred between 81.9% of chiropractors (n = 95) and 55.3% of physiotherapists (n = 105). Chiropractors (69.0%, n = 80) and physiotherapists (55.3%, n = 105) wanted to collaborate to manage patients.
Conclusion: In the surveyed population in South Africa, chiropractors and physiotherapists had good knowledge, positive attitudes and perceptions of each other's practices, especially in the private sector.
Clinical implications: Inter-professional collaboration between chiropractors and physiotherapists should be encouraged so that healthcare delivery can be holistic and patient-centred for better clinical outcomes.