Download the supplement (208 p.) - KCE

KCE reports vol. 40 APPENDICES Physiotherapy 117
1.1.2 Questionnaire
Questionnaire development
The design of the survey has been achieved in collaboration with two physiotherapists associations, namely
the AKRW (Association des Kinésithérapeutes de la Région de Wavre) and the WVVK (Wetenschappelijke
Vereniging voor Vlaamse Kinesitherapeuten). A French first version of the questionnaire has been developed
by the team of the Université catholique de Louvain and the Federal Health Care Knowledge Centre (KCE).
This version has been submitted to 15 ambulatory physiotherapists of the AKRW. They were asked to fill in
the questionnaire as well as a grid to assess its relevance and layout. A meeting was subsequently organised to
discuss the physiotherapists comments/suggestions. The questionnaire was then adapted and translated in
Dutch. This version was submitted to ambulatory physiotherapists of the WVVK and discussed following the
same procedure as described above. The French and Dutch final versions of the questionnaire are respectively
presented in the appendixes 4A and 4B.
Nature of the collected information
An initial page presented the purpose of the questionnaire and the guaranty that the anonymity of the
respondents would be preserved. The questionnaire itself collected information of several types:
Some demographic information of the respondents: physiotherapist s post code (to determine the
Belgian province), age, sex, and date of the degree in physiotherapy and rehabilitation.
The sessions performed by the physiotherapists during one working day (from Monday to Friday).
The day was randomly imposed on each respondent to avoid that the physiotherapists choose a day
with a lot of sessions or, conversely, with few sessions. Moreover, an interaction effect between days
and type of pathology may be present as the Monday, Wednesday, and Friday are preferentially kept
to conditions requiring a treatment 3 times a week. For each session, the following information was
requested: patient s age and sex, Belgian nomenclature code of the session, and reason(s) for
treatment.
The treatment modalities applied for five common conditions requiring physical therapy as part of
treatment. The following conditions were selected: acute low back pain (without radiating pain), total
knee replacement, hemiplegia/hemiparesis, gait disorders in elderly people, and bronchiolitis in infants
and children. These five conditions were selected as (1) they are, a priori, frequently encountered in
ambulatory physiotherapy (bronchiolitis is probaly less common than other conditions but was
nevertheless added to include a paediatric condition), (2) they include different types of pathologies
(low back pain = musculoskeletal condition / C list; total knee replacement = orthopaedic condition /
FA list; hemiplegia/hemiparesis = neurological condition / E list; gait disorders in elderly people =
general condition / FB list; bronchiolitis = respiratory condition / C list), and (3) they cover different
age brackets (from infants and children with bronchiolitis to elderly people with gait disorders). Note
that separate pages were provided for each condition. Only physiotherapists who have treated, last
week, at least one patient suffering from the specified condition were asked to select among a preestablished
list the treatment modalitie(s) applied for the last patient seen for this condition. The
respondents had the possibility to specify the electrophysiotherapeutic modalities and other
treatment modalities not included in the pre-established list. They were also asked to indicate the
patient s age and sex as well as the delay between the beginning of his/her condition and the beginning
of the treatment by the physiotherapist.
The clinical tests and functional assessment tools used to determine the evolution of patients suffering
from the five conditions described just above. All physiotherapists were asked to select among a preestablished
list the functional tests that they are using for each specified condition. The respondents
had the possibility to specify functional tests not included in the pre-established list.
The key element on which the physiotherapists go to establish their treatment planning. The
suggested responses were the medical prescription, the number of prescribed sessions, or the
patient s functional status on the basis of a physiotherapeutic assessment.
The knowledge / non-knowledge of the concepts of the International Classification of Functioning,
Disability, and Health (ICF) proposed by the World Health Organization and the use / non-use of the
ICF concepts in the physiotherapeutic practice (e.g., to define the objectives of the treatment or to
determine the patient s evolution).