Use of Evidence Based Practice by Physical Therapist in Delhi and NCR, India: A Crossectional Survey

Introduction: Evidence-based practice (EBP) is access to and availability of the scientific database, the search of relevant literature in practice, and the precise use of Evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients. Assessment of variables such as the beliefs, attitudes, knowledge, and behavior give rise to factor influencing and self-efficacy of individuals practicing EBP and conceptualizing the growing importance of EBP in the physical therapy sector. The present study aimed to assess belief and attitude about EBP, its knowledge, and skills related to obtaining and evaluating evidence and identify barriers to practice among Physical Therapists in India. Methods: A cross-sectional analytical study was conducted among the physical therapist working in Delhi and NCR. A survey questionnaire contains 5 segments and 51 statement item screening beliefs, attitudes, knowledge, and behavior of individuals in terms of using EBP. The relationship among variables is obtained by using Logistic Regression analysis. The data was collected from April 2016 through May 2016. Results: The physical therapist state that they had a positive attitude toward EBP and understand the necessity of evidencebased practice (87%). They were familiar with a search engine (87%), relevant literature is useful in practice (75%), help in clinical decision making (75.9%), and improve quality of patient care (78.9%) but the majority of respondents said that it doesn’t come under patient preference (51.8%), lack of generalizability of research finding to the individual patient (28.7%), and insufficient time (77.8%) to incorporate EBP. Conclusion: Indian physical therapists from Delhi and NCR believe that they had a positive attitude toward obtaining EBP, using available evidence for clinical decision making, and improve the quality of patient care. A cultural change within the working environment and the organization’s support will allow more time for searching relevant databases for implementing EBP in daily clinical practice.