Physiotherapists' use and perceptions of digital remote physiotherapy during COVID-19 lockdown in Switzerland: an online cross-sectional survey.
Anne-Kathrin Rausch, Heiner Baur, Leah Reicherzer and 6 others
PMID 34233763WHAT IT FOUND
Swiss physiotherapists rapidly adopted remote therapy during lockdown, rising from 4.9% to 44.6% of practitioners.
Despite this uptake, two-thirds lacked confidence in its future utility, and nearly half offered services without billing, signaling poor integration into standard care.
Key findings
01The proportion of physiotherapists providing remote care increased significantly from 4.9% before the lockdown to 44.6% during the lockdown.
02Two-thirds of respondents were not confident that remote care could complement usual physiotherapy in the future.
03A large proportion of physiotherapists offered remote sessions without extra billing.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The study is cross-sectional, capturing perceptions at a single point in time rather than longitudinal outcomes. Response bias is possible, as participants were recruited through professional associations, potentially skewing the sample towards more engaged or digitally literate physiotherapists. The survey focused on perceptions and usage patterns rather than clinical effectiveness or patient outcomes.
Declared interests
The study was funded by physioswiss, the largest Swiss Physiotherapy Association.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the 44.6% adoption rate during lockdown as evidence of successful long-term integration. The data show that two-thirds of these practitioners were not confident in remote therapy's future role, and many provided services without billing, suggesting the adoption was a temporary crisis response rather than a sustainable shift in practice.