To develop a questionnaire for Portuguese-speaking physiotherapists to collect data on their perceptions regarding the use of digital health technology and artificial intelligence in clinical practice. Design: A cross-sectional study utilizing an electronic survey. Setting: The study involved primary and secondary care physiotherapists across Portugal, Brazil, S. Tomé e Principe, Canada, Switzerland, and Angola. Participants: A total of 122 Portuguese-speaking physiotherapists treating musculoskeletal conditions were recruited. Of these, 97 completed the survey (completion rate: 80.3%). Participants were primarily female (72%), over 40 years of age (60.8%), with more than 20 years of clinical practice (37.1%). Interventions: Not applicable. Main outcome measures: The survey assessed the current utilization and acceptability of digital health technologies, including the frequency of use for various clinical tasks and the willingness to adopt new technologies. Results: Traditional methods such as face-to-face questioning (76%) and handwritten notes (42%) were predominantly used. Only 1–23% of physiotherapists used any digital health technology. Despite low current utilization, there was a high interest in digital technologies, particularly for tracking patient conditions (94.8%), inputting clinical progress notes (88.6%), and receiving imaging results (83.5%). Conclusions: The study highlights a significant interest among physiotherapists in adopting digital health technologies, despite current underutilization. Addressing barriers such as digital literacy and data security concerns could enhance the integration of these technologies, potentially improving musculoskeletal care delivery and patient outcomes.

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Utilization and Acceptability of Digital Health Technologies in Musculoskeletal Physical Therapy: A Survey of Portuguese-Speaking Physical Therapists

  • Andrea Ribeiro,
  • José Lumini,
  • Maria Martins,
  • Mafalda Duarte,
  • Felipe Santa Rita,
  • João Sousa,
  • Francisco Esteves

摘要

To develop a questionnaire for Portuguese-speaking physiotherapists to collect data on their perceptions regarding the use of digital health technology and artificial intelligence in clinical practice. Design: A cross-sectional study utilizing an electronic survey. Setting: The study involved primary and secondary care physiotherapists across Portugal, Brazil, S. Tomé e Principe, Canada, Switzerland, and Angola. Participants: A total of 122 Portuguese-speaking physiotherapists treating musculoskeletal conditions were recruited. Of these, 97 completed the survey (completion rate: 80.3%). Participants were primarily female (72%), over 40 years of age (60.8%), with more than 20 years of clinical practice (37.1%). Interventions: Not applicable. Main outcome measures: The survey assessed the current utilization and acceptability of digital health technologies, including the frequency of use for various clinical tasks and the willingness to adopt new technologies. Results: Traditional methods such as face-to-face questioning (76%) and handwritten notes (42%) were predominantly used. Only 1–23% of physiotherapists used any digital health technology. Despite low current utilization, there was a high interest in digital technologies, particularly for tracking patient conditions (94.8%), inputting clinical progress notes (88.6%), and receiving imaging results (83.5%). Conclusions: The study highlights a significant interest among physiotherapists in adopting digital health technologies, despite current underutilization. Addressing barriers such as digital literacy and data security concerns could enhance the integration of these technologies, potentially improving musculoskeletal care delivery and patient outcomes.