Patient Perception About Hygienic Measures in Physical Therapy Practice A Step Towards Health and Safety Before the Pandemic

Abstract

There is an immense potential of transmission for infection during physical therapy treatment. To reduce this, infection hygiene measures should be taken by therapists. The best way to measure the level of satisfaction about hygiene is by knowing the patient’s perception. Objective: This study aimed to find out the patient’s perception about hygienic measures in physical therapy practice which is a step towards health and safety. Material and methods: A descriptive cross-sectional survey was conducted among outdoor patients treated by physiotherapy in clinics and hospitals of Lahore. A convenient sampling technique was used to collect data after informed consent from patients. A validated self-structured questionnaire was used. This study was completed in 3 months after approval of the synopsis. The study population was selected according to the inclusion criteria. Results: Data was collected from 378 patients. Patients were from 13 different private and government clinics and hospitals in Lahore. The mean ages of the participants were 40.91 years. Before the pandemic, 70.3% of physiotherapists were not wearing face masks during treatment. Results showed that the majority was satisfied (49.2%) but 39.7% were having average satisfaction and only 9% were unsatisfied with the treatment regarding physical therapist's hygiene. Only 6.9% marked hygienic measures of physiotherapists as worse. Conclusion: The results before the coronavirus pandemic clearly showed that the overall perceptions of patients treated in physiotherapy departments in clinics and hospitals of Lahore was good about hygienic measures but the basic facilities of hygiene were inadequate and there is an absolute need for improvement. Patients need to be made aware of their rights so that they can demand better hygiene from the physiotherapist and staff of the healthcare facilities so that actions are taken to promote patient’s safety and decrease hospital-acquired infections.