Telehealth in physical therapy: level of adherence among physical therapists and barriers faced during the COVID-19 pandemic
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1590/1809-2950/e23001623ptKeywords:
Telemedicine, Physical Therapy ModalitiesAbstract
Telehealth in physical therapy was only
authorized in Brazil after the onset of the COVID-19
pandemic, thus requiring rapid technological adaptations
to guarantee the provision and accessibility of telemedicine
services. Therefore, there was no time for anticipation
and preparation for conducting this modality of service.
This study aimed to investigate the level of adherence
and the barriers faced by Brazilian physical therapists in
coping with the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic
concerning telemedicine services. This is a cross-sectional
study designed to reach the largest possible number of
participants and, for this, an online survey questionnaire
was applied using the SurveyMonkey platform. Among
the 245 physical therapists included in the study, the level
of adherence to telemedicine services was 63.3% (n=155). Regarding the different telemedicine modalities, teleconsultation,
telemonitoring, and teleconsulting presented levels of adherence
of 74.8% (n=116), 71% (n=110), and 23.9% (n=37), respectively. The
most frequently reported barriers included difficulties related to
the internet connection (38.1%; n=59), technology-related issues
(29.7%; n=46), and the lack of compatibility within Physical
Therapy (25.8%; n=40). Therefore, the level of adherence to
telemedicine services by Brazilian physical therapists in facing
the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic was high, and the
main barriers faced included difficulties related to the internet
connection and technology-related issues
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Copyright (c) 2023 Karina Ayumi Martins Utida, Flávia Soares Castello, Luciana Shirley Pereira Zanela, Mariana Bogoni Budib Hashiguchi
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