Conflitos morais na prática fisioterapêutica: percepção de fisioterapeutas e alunos

Abstract

Moral conflicts are inherent to the practice of physiotherapy, more so as manifestations of the scientific evolution are increasingly more present in the professional praxis of the physiotherapist, which demands a close contact between the professional and the patient. The objective of this study was to analyze the perception of physiotherapists and students in a physiotherapy program towards moral conflicts in clinical practice. A cross-sectional study was performed by means of a questionnaire applied to students in initial (Group 1) and final (Group 2) stages of a physiotherapy course as well as to physiotherapists (Group 3) working in cities in the Midwest of Santa Catarina, Brazil. The sample consisted of 110 students, 59 in Group 1 and 51 in Group 2, with a mean age of 22.7 years old and were predominantly females. Moreover, there were 36 physiotherapists included in Group 3, most of whom were female, with ages ranging from 31 to 40 years old and with 11 to 20 years of training. Almost all students and professionals reported that approaching professional ethics and bioethics in professional training is particularly important. The students in the more advanced stages, who had taken the bioethics course, showed greater general knowledge when compared to the other groups, indicating the importance of teaching this theme at the undergraduate level. Most professionals (75%) self-reported little knowledge on the topics discussed in the Ethics and Deontology Code of Physiotherapy; 72% affirmed having partially read the document, but only 47% get annual updates on the ethics code. The conflicts most frequently mentioned by the professionals were secrecy and confidentiality (61.1%), intra- and interprofessional relationship (33.3%), fees (30.5%), professional autonomy (25%), truthfulness of information (19.4%), therapist/patient relationship (16.7%), and patient autonomy, decency, and intimacy (5.5%). Moral conflicts are part of the practice of physiotherapy, even if it was not sufficiently acknowledged by the participants in some cases. Based on this study, some measures are needed regarding teaching, professional recycling, and the inclusion of themes in the professional code of physiotherapy, considering that some issues constitute a challenge for ethical training. Unfortunately, but they are not addressed in the physiotherapist’s professional code of ethics and professionals who finished training before did not have adequate learning on the topics discussed.