Factors Influencing Perceived Clinical Decision-Making Skills in Stroke Rehabilitation among Physical Therapy Interns of Ilocos Norte, Philippines

Aim: To determine the CDM skills and the different factors that influence an intern's perceived CDM skills in stroke rehabilitation. Method: This mixed method sequential design study involved the assessment of PT interns from Ilocos Norte, Philippines using self-administered CDM tool and CDM factors questionnaire. Data analyses were done using descriptive and inferential statistics. Alpha was set at 0.05. Results: A total of 54 students participated in the study with mean age of 21.74 + 1.08 with male to female ratio of 1:2.86. Final CDM factor questionnaire was found to have good content validity (S-CVI: 0.93) and internal consistency (Cronbach alpha>0.70). Education, clinical PT experience, and modelling were the most reported perceived factors related to CDM skills. Further analyses revealed that locus of control of interns, environment, and previous patient experience were significantly correlated with perceived examination skills while environment, instructor, and locus of control were significantly correlated with perceived diagnosis and prognosis skills, respectively. Conclusion and Implications: Study revealed that PT interns in Ilocos Norte reported that they can independently perform CDM skills related to intervention, outcome measurement, and evaluation in stroke rehabilitation. Findings of the study suggest that combination of different strategies that will give students several and unique learning opportunities including different learning factors may best help in improving CDM skills.