Perception towards Physiotherapy among the General Population in Gujrat, Pakistan

INTRODUCTION: Physiotherapy is a dynamic profession that employs various therapeutic strategies to help people regain movement and function in their bodies. Physiotherapists provide comprehensive care for patients with different medical and surgical conditions. This study aimed to assess the perceptions regarding physiotherapy among the general population of Gujrat, Pakistan. METHODOLOGY: This descriptive cross-sectional survey was carried out among the general population of Gujrat from March to June 2021. Non-probability sampling technique was used to select the 126 participants >20 years of age. A self-structured Likert scale questionnaire was developed to collect data. The responses were analyzed through Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS). P-value less than 0.05 was considered as level of significance. RESULTS: Majority of participants (75.4%) were from the age group 20-29 years and 90(71.4%) of the participants had either undergraduate or postgraduation education. Out of 126 participants, 103(81.75%) participants were highly aware and had adequate awareness regarding physiotherapy, whereas 20(50.9%) participants showed moderate awareness and 3(2.4%) of participants showed a deficient level of awareness. No association was seen between awareness and variables including age, gender, socioeconomic status, and education. CONCLUSION: General population of Gujrat were highly aware of physiotherapy. Education plays an impactful role in better understanding of physiotherapy, so further steps should be taken to increase positive perception in different socioeconomic statuses, including advertisements, social media campaigns and seminars.