Physiotherapy students' attitudes toward the use of telehealth in clinical practice: a cross-sectional survey

Background and Aims: Provision of physiotherapy services using telehealth has drastically increased since the COVID-19 pandemic and continues to be utilized in clinical practice suggesting telehealth in physiotherapy will become common practice. Prior research has explored the attitudes of physiotherapists with many years of in-person clinical experience toward telehealth. However, little is known about the emerging workforce's attitudes. This study aims to explore physiotherapy students' attitudes toward the use of telehealth in clinical practice.

Methods: A cross-sectional online survey of physiotherapy students enrolled in the Doctor of Physiotherapy program at Macquarie University between November 2022 and February 2023. Participants rated their level of agreement across 11 statements regarding telehealth use in physiotherapy clinical practice using a 5-point Likert scale ranging from " strongly disagree" to " strongly agree." Participants answered two open-ended questions regarding when they might use telehealth in clinical practice as a physiotherapist and why they believe physiotherapists might be reluctant to use telehealth in clinical practice.

Results: A total of 118 participants completed the survey (response rate 53%). Overall, most participants believed telehealth would continue being offered post-Covid-19 (86%, n  = 101), participants would use some form of telehealth in clinical practice (82%, n 96), believe a blended approach would be beneficial for patients (84%, n  = 99), and were interested in further training in telehealth (90%, n  = 107). We identified six broad themes, including accessibility, subsequent consultations, inability to provide manual therapies, limited training/education, perceived ineffectiveness, and digital literacy of the patient.

Conclusion: Overall physiotherapy students believe telehealth will continue being offered in clinical practice, form part of contemporary physiotherapy practice, and are interested in further training to upskill in the delivery of care via telehealth. Given the continued use and students' demand for future training, it may be time to reimagine the inclusion of telehealth education and training in the entry-level physiotherapy curriculum.