Projection of Supply and Demand of the Physical Therapy Manpower in Taiwan for the Next Twenty Years: Part I. Current Status and Productivity of Physical Therapists and Physical Therapist Assistants

Background and purposes: The purposes of this study were 1) to describe the general productivity and productivities in 4 special fields (neurological, orthopedic, pediatric, and cardiopulmonary) of physical therapists (PT) and physical therapist assistants (PTA) in Taiwan, and 2) to explore the association between characteristics of PT/PTA and productivity. Method: Questionnaire was mailed to the members of all PT and PTA associations in Taiwan. The total mailing number of questionnaire for PT and PTA were 2466 and 1117, respectively. The content of this questionnaire included basic demographic data and information in clinical work. Survey period was between September, 2002 and December, 2002. Results: Total returned questionnaires were 764 from PT and 269 from PTA. General productivity for aPT was 21.39 patients per day, assuming working 8 hours per day. For each specialization field, the productivity of neurological, orthopedic, pediatric, cardiop­ ulmonary patients of each PT per day was 19.72 (sd=9.50), 24.98 (sd=11.07), 15.55 (sd=8.75), and 21.42 (sd=10.63), respectively. For the association between PT characteristics and productivity, working place and PT\u27 s gender were significantly associated with general productivity. PT\u27s age, educational level, and working place were significantly associated with neurological and pediatric productivities. Working experience was also significantly associated with neurological productivity. PT\u27 s characteristics were not significantly associated with orthopedic and cardiopulmonary productivity. General productivity for a PTA was 29.75 patients per day. The productivity of neurological, orthopedic, pediatric, cardiopulmonary patients of each PTA per day was 22.29 (sd=9.50), 35.07 (sd=11.07), 19.48 (sd=8.75), and 19.55 (sd=10.63), respectively. Only PTA\u27s education level was signifi­cantly associated with orthopedic productivity. There were no other significant associations between any of the PTA\u27s characteristics and productivity. Conclusion: This study repported the current status of clincial practice in PT and PTA. There will be a series of articles investigating the projection of supply and demand of physical therapy manpower for the next twenty years

Self-perceived quality of life for adolescents with physical disabilities - a preliminary study

The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of physical disabilities (PD) on the quality of life (QoL) of adolescents aged from 10 to 18 years. Sixty-three adolescents with PD (aged 14.9 &Acirc;&plusmn; 2.4 years) from primary (5th grade or above) to high schools in Kaohsiung City volunteered to participate in this research; 282 children without disability (aged 13.8 &Acirc;&plusmn; 2.3 years) attending schools in the same geographical region were recruited as controls. The Student Version of the Comprehensive Quality of Life Scale was used in this study. This is a multidimensional self-report, global measure of subjective and objective QoL. Multivariate analysis of variance revealed that the two groups were significantly different in objective QoL (F = 11.53, p &lt; 0.001). Material wellbeing was substantially lower in the PD group when compared to the control group. In contrast, domains such as productivity, safety, and emotion were higher in the PD group. Among the subjective scales, the PD group showed higher productivity and better emotion when compared to the control group. No significant correlation was observed between objective and subjective overall QoL scores (r = 0.20, p = 0.12) in the PD group. These findings showed that subjects with PD in regular schools demonstrated different patterns in objective and subjective QoL when compared to those without PD. Both subjective and objective domains are important when measuring QoL of adolescents with PD.<br /

Modified pressure biofeedback unit.

<p>Modified pressure biofeedback unit.</p

Illustrations of test setting.

<p>(A) Cervical flexion. (B) Thoracic extension. (C) Thoracic side-shift to right. (D) Thoracic rotation to right. (E) Lumbar flexion. (F) Lumbar extension. (G) Lumbar side-shift to right. (H) Lumbar rotation to right. Black oval denotes pressure cuff; gray oval denotes pillow; black arrow indicates movement direction.</p

Participant’s characteristics of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) and control groups.

<p>Participant’s characteristics of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) and control groups.</p

Pressure deviation of segmental spinal movements for cervical, thoracic, and lumbar regions.

<p>Pressure deviation of segmental spinal movements for cervical, thoracic, and lumbar regions.</p

Descriptions of segmental spinal movement assessment.

<p>Descriptions of segmental spinal movement assessment.</p