Perception of Indian physiotherapists to the application of physiotherapeutic intervention on animals

Abstract

Background: Animal rehabilitation is very well known and practiced in foreign countries with lot of literatures and research; on the contrary there is less research on animal rehabilitation in India. In new era demand and awareness about physiotherapy in animals has increased. Aims and Objectives: To know the perception of Indian physiotherapists to the application of physiotherapeutic interventions on animals & to have knowledge of the level of awareness of animal rehabilitation among qualified Indian physiotherapists. Materials and Methods: Self-structured questionnaire regarding the awareness of animal physiotherapy was developed and validated. The questionnaire was distributed through a link to the Indian Physiotherapists who belonged to registered association /council of physiotherapy from different states. Result: Of the many questionnaires distributed, 178 people responded in which 94 (52.8%) were Private practitioners, 31(17.4%) were Teachers and 53 (29.8%) were PG students.40.4 % (n:70) PT's were aware of PT's practicing on Animals but had never seen. 69.1% (n:121) PT's said that there is a need to create a new branch in Physiotherapy related to Animals. Conclusion: The result of this study concludes that for animal physiotherapy to be widely used, more awareness should be created among Indian physiotherapists as this field is still in infancy in India.