Enhancing physiotherapy practice: A quasi-experimental study comparing training alone versus training with support tools among physiotherapists in Ogun State, Nigeria

Abstract

Objective: This study was designed to determine whether adding a modified pain assessment tool and home-program prescription sheets to a training program improves the knowledge, motivation, behavioural skills and uptake of standardised tools by physiotherapists.

Methods: A quasi-experimental study involving two groups of physiotherapists: experimental group (n=30) and control group (n=30); recruited from four tertiary hospitals in Ogun state, Nigeria. The interventions included lectures, participatory discussions and practical demonstrations for both groups, with modified pain assessment tools and home-program prescription sheets introduced to only the experimental group. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data in three phases: baseline, immediate post-intervention and six-week follow-up. Data were analysed using SPSS version 23. The level of significance was set at p-values less than 0.05.

Results: At baseline, the scores of all measured variables were similar in the two study groups. Immediately post-intervention, the scores in the experimental group were significantly higher than those in the control group across all measured variables (p< 0.001).  At follow-up, the scores of measured variables were significantly higher in the experimental group compared to the control group for knowledge (p=0.005), motivation (p<0.001), behavioural skills (p<0.001), and utilisation (p<0.001). In the experimental group, the scores of all measured variables significantly increased from baseline values in all the measured variables: knowledge (p<0.001), motivation (p=0.047), behavioural skills (p<0.001), and utilisation (p<0.001).

Conclusion: The addition of support tools to the training program of physiotherapists improved their knowledge, motivation, behavioural skills and use of these tools in their routine practice.