Quality indicators for Spanish hospital-based physical therapy units: a feasibility and inter-rater reliability study.

Brazilian journal of physical therapy · 2026 · Pilot · PT
Daniel Ángel-García, Nicolás Ibarra-Meneses, Beatriz Alonso-Cortés Fradejas, Ismael Martínez-Nicolás

Of 22 quality indicators tested in three Spanish hospitals, 13 worked and 9 could not be reliably measured. Where measurable, compliance was often very low — for example, fewer than 10% of stroke patients had their rehabilitation need assessed within 48 hours at two of three sites.

Key findings

1

Of 22 quality indicators, 17 were feasible in at least two hospitals and 13 in all three; 9 indicators could not be measured reliably in any site.

2

Inter-rater reliability was acceptable for most indicators (median PABAK 0.95, IQR 0.91–1), but one criterion ('at least one therapeutic objective') had a PABAK of 0.0 due to disagreement over what counted as a complete objective.

3

Compliance was below 5% for four indicators in Hospital 1, four in Hospital 2, and five in Hospital 3; the highest compliance was 86.05% (±10.36%) for setting objectives from the first visit at Hospital 2.

MethodologyResultsClinical Relevance

Single-blind randomized controlled trial. Sixty-four participants were randomized across two intervention arms and assessed at twelve weeks for the primary outcome…

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