Journal of Sports Medicine & Doping Studies

Levels of Professionalism among Physical Therapists in India- A National Cross-Sectional Survey

Abstract

Senthil P Kumar, Vaishali Sisodia and Ernest Jacob

Background and purpose: The American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) developed the core values of leadership, administration, management and professionalism for physical therapists. The aim of this study was to assess the levels of professionalism among physical therapists in India.
Materials and methods: This cross-sectional study was done using a survey questionnaire- Professionalism In Physical Therapy- Core Values (PPTCV) instrument that consisted of sample indicators for each of the seven core values- accountability (10 indicators), altruism (5 indicators), compassion/caring (11 indicators), excellence (11 indicators), integrity (12 indicators), professional duty (7 indicators), and social responsibility (12 indicators). Each sample indicator was to be rated using a 5-point Likert scale from ‘never, rarely, occasionally, frequently and rarely.’ 771 eligible questionnaires out of 889 participants with a response rate of 91.33% were analyzed and computed based upon individual- and profession-related variables. Descriptive analysis was done using SPSS version 11.5 (SPSS Inc, IL) at 95% confidence interval.
Results: Overall, high levels of professionalism was reported by post-graduate students, followed by researchers and teaching faculty. Younger male physical therapy students were more likely to report high levels of professionalism. Individually, accountability was high among teaching faculty, altruism, compassion/caring and social responsibility among clinician-therapists, and integrity and professional duty was high among researchers. No single professional category showed high levels of professionalism in all seven core values.
Conclusion: Overall levels of professionalism among Indian physical therapists were moderate, and altruism and compassion levels were also low. Other indicators of professionalism were fairly evenly distributed among the students and therapists, and between genders. The study findings are of importance to develop curricular and educational modifications to improve levels of professionalism among physical therapists in India and future studies are warranted around the world.