Remote physiotherapy in Finland : suitability, usability and factors affecting its use
Abstract
Abstract
Objective
To investigate physiotherapists’ views on suitability, usability and factors affecting the use of remote physiotherapy in Finland.
Design
A cross-sectional, web-based questionnaire study.
Subjects
Members of the Finnish Association of Physiotherapists and a private physiotherapy organisation.
Methods
The questionnaire included questions on remote physiotherapy′s suitability (0 = not suitable at all to 10 = fully suitable) for different physiotherapy tasks (consultation, guidance and counselling, exercise, assessment and corrective act at the workplace), a reason to implement remote physiotherapy, how often remote physiotherapy is used at different stages of the physiotherapy process and factors affecting the use of remote physiotherapy.
Results
The response rate was 9.9% (N=662/6525; 76.1% female). The mean suitability ‘score’ for remote physiotherapy differed from 7.6 (consultation, guidance and counselling) to 3.8 (corrective act at a workplace). Physiotherapists with at least one year experience of working with remote physiotherapy reported that it is better suited to consultation, guidance and counselling, exercise and assessment (p-values <.05) than did those with less experience. Of the responders (physiotherapists), 72.5% used conventional physiotherapy, 7.2% used remote physiotherapy and 20.2% used a combination of the two as primary work method.
Conclusion
Physiotherapists stated that remote physiotherapy suits especially for consultation, guidance and counselling, but it is still minimally used as primary work method in different stages of the physiotherapy process.
Main Authors
Format
Articles
Research article
Published
2023
Series
Subjects
Publication in research information system
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
The permanent address of the publication
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:jyu-202308314847Use this for linking
Review status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
2167-9169
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1080/21679169.2023.2233560
Language
English
Published in
European Journal of Physiotherapy
Citation
- Hellstén, T., Arokoski, J., Sjögren, T., Jäppinen, A.-M., & Kettunen, J. (2023). Remote physiotherapy in Finland : suitability, usability and factors affecting its use. European Journal of Physiotherapy, 25(6), 378-387. https://doi.org/10.1080/21679169.2023.2233560
Additional information about funding
This work was supported by Fonden för teknisk undervisning & forskning’ (TUF), a fund for supporting education and technical research at Arcada University of Applied Sciences.
Copyright© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group