Profile of physiotherapists working with soccer teams in South Africa.
Matthews Selomo, Maria E Cochrane, Muhammad A Dawood
PMID 37928645WHAT IT FOUND
Physiotherapists working with South African soccer teams are young, mostly male, and hold bachelor's degrees.
They treat players in private practices, not on the field, and rely heavily on soft tissue mobilisation and strengthening. Most report dissatisfaction with their salaries.
Key findings
01The majority of participants were male (n=28) and African (n=34), with a mean age of 31.35 years.
02Most participants worked in private practice settings (34.2%) or outpatient departments (31.6%), and no patient assessments or treatments were conducted on the field side.
03The most frequently used clinical practices were soft tissue mobilisation (92%), strengthening exercises (92%), proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (89%), stretching exercises (86%), and ultrasound therapy (86%).
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The sample size was small (n=38) and drawn from a specific population of contracted physiotherapists, limiting generalisability to voluntary or non-contracted practitioners. The study relied on self-reported data, which is subject to recall and social desirability bias. The Job Satisfaction Survey tool was noted by the authors to have moderate discriminant validity and was recommended for one-off use, which may affect the precision of satisfaction findings. The questionnaire was not developed specifically for the South African context, and some questions (e.g., on postgraduate education) may have been misinterpreted by participants.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The study was funded by the National Research Foundation (South Africa) and the Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the high use of ultrasound and soft tissue mobilisation as evidence that these interventions are superior for soccer injuries. This paper describes what therapists currently do, not what works best. The reliance on passive modalities may reflect tradition or lack of access to other resources, rather than clinical efficacy.