Conocimientos, actitudes y prácticas de los fisioterapeutas sobre el cálculo del peso ideal en unidades de cuidado intensivo

Introduction

Ideal weight is considered as the weight determined for a given height; its calculation from equations allows in intensive care units to establish drug doses, prescribe nutritional intake and program the tidal volume in the mechanical ventilator.

Objective

To describe the knowledge, attitudes and practices of physiotherapists in 15 intensive care units in southwestern Colombia on the calculation of ideal weight between May-July 2021.

Methods

Cross-sectional observational study. A questionnaire was designed, validated and applied (google forms) based on 3 domains (knowledge, attitudes and practices), with a self-completion time of 12 minutes. The questionnaire was applied to 32 physiotherapists in 15 adult intensive care units, representing 60% of the total number of units in the city where the study was carried out.

Results

During the 7 months of data collection, a total of 32 physical therapists responded to the survey, with an overall response rate of 55%, 62% were women, the average age was 33, 62% had experience of more than 36 months and 25% had postgraduate training in the cardiopulmonary area. The content validity index of the questionnaire was 0.93, the knowledge domain was 0.90, attitudes 0.88 and practices 0.87.

Conclusión

100% of the physiotherapists have a high knowledge of the calculation of ideal weight in critical patients, practices differ among them and it is considered necessary to protocolize and standardize the measurement.