Evaluation of the Mode of Referral of Patients for Physiotherapy by Physicians

The physiotherapy profession has emerged not only as an important medical and rehabilitation complement in health care delivery but also as a vital therapeutic tool with defined scientifically based protocols. In Nigeria, it is used as a prescription rather than as a referral, on a consultation basis, but its use as a prescription is gradually being discouraged in some developed countries. There seems to be a low level of awareness of this development, particularly in the developing countries. This study was therefore designed to evaluate the physicians’ mode of referral of patients for physiotherapy in Nigeria. A total of 1192 physicians participated in the survey, a 78 per cent response rate. They were required to complete a 22-item self developed closed-ended questionnaire using a sample of opportunity. The questionnaire obtained information on demographic data, educational attainment, university of graduation, year of graduation and mode of referral for physiotherapy. A total of 1054 (88.4%) respondents agreed that physiotherapists were trained enough to make clinical decisions on the treatment of their patients and 678 (56.9%) referred patients for physiotherapy. Of the respondents who agreed that physiotherapists are trained well enough to make clinical decisions on the treatment of their patients, 786 (74.6%) graduated from universities that also have a physiotherapy training programme. The majority 442 (68.2%) of these respondents and 603 (79.4%) of the respondents who received some form of lectures in physiotherapy during their medical training or whose universities had a physiotherapy training programme did not include prescriptions in their referrals. KEY WORDS: physicians, mode of referral, physiotherapy