The effect of physiotherapy based education on the attitudes and beliefs of students towards individuals with chronic low back pain.
Dr. Cormac Ryan, Dervla Murphy, Michael Clarke, Andrew Lee
School of Health and Social Care, Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow, G4 0BA
Question: What is the effect of physiotherapy education compared to a non-health care education on the attitudes and beliefs of students towards functioning in individuals with back pain? Design: Observational study Participants: Level 1 physiotherapy (n=61) and non-health care students (n = 61) and level 4 physiotherapy (n = 62) and non-health care students (n = 62). Outcome measures: All participants completed the Health Care Providers¡¯ Pain and Impairment Relationship Scale (HC-PAIRS). This questionnaire measures a health care provider¡¯s attitude towards functioning in individuals with back pain. P¡Ü0.01 was considered statistically significant. Ethical approval was obtained. Results: level four physiotherapy students had more positive overall attitudes towards functioning in individuals with back pain than level one physiotherapy students (66.6 vs. 57.4, -9.2 [95%CI -12.2 to -6.1], p=0.00 [mean difference[95%CI], p-value]). Conversely level one and level four non-health care students had similar attitudes (69.2 vs. 65.3, -3.9[95%CI -7.2 to -0.5], p=0.03). There was no difference in attitudes between level 1 Physiotherapy and non-health care students (66.6 vs. 69.2, -2.6[95%CI -5.5 to 0.4], p=0.08), but there was a difference between level 4 Physiotherapy and non-health care students, with the level 4 physiotherapy students having more positive attitudes (57.4 vs. 65.3, -7.9[95%CI -11.4 to -4.4], p=0.00). Conclusion: These findings suggest that physiotherapy based education brings about more positive student attitudes towards functioning in individuals with back pain when compared to non-health care based education. This may facilitate physiotherapy students to become more evidence based practitioners with this patient group post qualification.
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