Physiotherapy students' knowledge and attitudes about their role in mental health.
Ropafadzo R Gunduza, Sandy Lord, Monique M Keller
PMID 38855074WHAT IT FOUND
Physiotherapy students at one South African university showed moderate mental-health knowledge and positive attitudes.
Only 34 of 111 responded, and third- and fourth-year students did not differ clearly.
Key findings
01Students had moderate knowledge of mental health, with an average MAKS score of 26.94 (standard deviation 3.57) and a reported highest possible score of 36.
02Only 30 students completed the attitude questionnaire; their average MICA-4 score was 39.12 (standard deviation 16.12), indicating a positive attitude on a scale where lower scores are more positive.
03Fourth-year students showed slightly more knowledge and more positive attitudes than third-year students, but the differences were not statistically significant.
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What it does not show
Only 34 of 111 students responded (31%), so the findings may not represent all physiotherapy students. Only 30 of the 34 respondents completed the attitude questionnaire, and four questionnaires were excluded for incomplete answers. The study was cross-sectional and had no control group, so it cannot show that training or clinical exposure caused the differences between year groups. The MAKS and MICA-4 scales were designed for qualified professionals, not students, and only 1 student reported prior experience working in a mental health facility. The paper describes the MAKS score range inconsistently: the methods section says the total score ranged from 6 to 30, but the results section says the highest possible score was 36. The survey was anonymous, self-reported, and done online at one South African university during the pandemic, which may affect responses and generalisability.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that physiotherapy training improves mental-health knowledge or attitudes. The study compared students at one point in time, had a 31% response rate, and the year-group differences were not statistically significant.