Measures used in physiotherapy assessment of people with neurological conditions in Australia: a national survey of clinical practice

Background: Measures are often used to evaluate effectiveness in healthcare. The goal of measuring, reporting, and comparing healthcare outcomes is to improve the patient experience of their care; to improve the health of populations and reduce the per capita cost of healthcare. In physiotherapy a variety of measures are used. They can be administered at assessment and then used to support evaluation of therapy or the outcome of the intervention for a person with a health condition.

Objectives: This study aimed to explore what measures are included in the physiotherapy assessment of people with neurological conditions and what factors influence this? As part of a larger study exploring perceptions of assessment.

Methods: A national survey of Australian physiotherapists who assessed adults with neurological conditions as part of their clinical practice.

Results: Two hundred and twelve respondents completed the survey from all states within Australia. Most respondents 189 (89.2%) specified that they use measures as part of assessment. The most used measures were standardised outcome measures
(73.1%) and the least used were self-devised measures (15.1.%). The choice of standardised measures was influenced by clinical experience (69.3%), evidence-based practice (61.3%) and familiarity (61.3%) with only some respondents using measures
as directed by their organisation. Just under half of the respondents (n=100, 47.2%) reported using measures that were not standardised. Free-text responses indicated that non-standardised measures were often used to measure participation and progress in therapy by measuring repetitions, timing a task and observing quality of functional activities.