Knowledge of Physiotherapy: A Study of Ishikawa High School Students

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To investigate how senior high school students' knowledge of physiotherapy is acquired and their possible view of physiotherapy as a career. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey. SETTING: Two non-vocational senior high schools in Japan. PARTICIPANTS: Six hundred and twenty-three students with a scholastic deviation value of more than 60. METHODOLOGY: A questionnaire in a closed-question format was used to survey the students' accuracy of knowledge and sources of information about physiotherapy. MAIN RESULTS: The science students and healthcare-aspiring students were more knowledgeable about physiotherapy compared to the literary and non-healthcare aspiring students with a mean score of 4.3, ranging from 0 to 11. Instruction in exercises (51%) was shown to be the most accurate, and intensive therapy (6%) was the least accurate. Television, one's own experience as a client, and career literature or pamphlets were the most cited sources of information. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Only half of the 619 students were aware of physiotherapy. This is partly due to the fact that the profession of physiotherapy has become commonly regarded as medical rehabilitation instead of one of the branches of therapeutics. Eighty-five per cent of the respondents indicated their aspiration to have a career, so acquisition of appropriate information on careers during high school days is important. Therefore, knowledge of physiotherapy conveyed by physiotherapists and the mass media to senior high school students should be improved in its accuracy of content.