Awareness, perceptions and beliefs about physiotherapy held by physicians working in Saudi Arabia: a cross-sectional study.
Einas S Al-Eisa, Hind Al-Hoqail, Asma S Al-Rushud and 6 others
PMID 28174468WHAT IT FOUND
49% of surveyed Saudi physicians never referred patients to physiotherapy, and 58% held negative views.
At least 55% were not comfortable referring without prescriptions.
Key findings
0149% of respondents never referred patients to physiotherapy departments, and 11% referred regularly.
0258% reported a negative perception about physiotherapy; a reason listed for negative perceptions was that physiotherapy is complimentary to medicine (61%).
03At least 55% were not comfortable referring patients to physiotherapy departments without prescriptions.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The study was done only among physicians working in Saudi Arabia, so it may not apply to other health systems. Most respondents were from the central region (60%), and interns and academicians were excluded, so the views may not represent all physicians. Referral and knowledge were self-reported by questionnaire; the study did not check patient records or measure patient outcomes. Because it was cross-sectional, it cannot show that lectures or special training caused more referrals. The paper does not report how many of the 315 invited physicians responded, only that 280 were included after exclusions. It describes physicians' perceptions, not the effectiveness of physiotherapy.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that physiotherapy does not help patients because 49% of surveyed physicians never referred. The survey measured physicians' self-reported awareness, perceptions and referral habits, not patient outcomes.