Validation of the World Health Organization Rehabilitation Competency Framework: An illustration using physiotherapy.

The search was limited to World Physiotherapy member countries and official association documents. Regulatory bodies and individual training institutions were not included, which may miss key sources of competency definitions. No documents were found from African countries, limiting the global representativeness of the findings. Non-English documents were translated using Google Translate, not professional translators, which may have affected the accuracy of statement interpretation. Competency statements often overlapped across domains, requiring the researchers to split or assign statements to a single domain, which involves subjective judgment. The study reviewed documents, not actual practice or outcomes, so it cannot say whether these competencies are effectively taught or applied.

The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, or publication of this article.

Do not interpret the alignment with the WHO framework as evidence that physiotherapy competencies are fully developed or effective. This study only shows that existing written statements can be categorized into WHO domains. It does not validate whether these competencies are being taught, learned, or improving patient care, nor does it address the quality or implementation of the frameworks themselves.