Practitioners preference in using electrotherapy to treat paediatric lower limb conditions: an online survey

Purpose: Electrotherapies are commonly used to treat adult musculoskeletal pathologies. However, there is insufficient evidence supporting the use of electrotherapies for lower limb conditions in children. Currently, it is unknown how electrotherapies are used in paediatric clinical practice. This study aimed to investigate if practitioners use electrotherapy to treat children's lower limb conditions, frequency and why.

Materials and methods: A custom-built online survey was disseminated via social media targeting international medical and healthcare practitioners who treat children with lower limb conditions using electrotherapy. Practitioners were asked if they did or did not use electrotherapies, and their reasons. Responses were described in frequencies and with thematic analysis.

Results: There were 445 practitioners who responded. From these, 301(68%) indicated they used electrotherapy, with the most frequently used being Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation ( n  = 110). The most common reason cited for using electrotherapy was practitioner preference due to the alleged effectiveness of the chosen modality. The remaining 144 (32%) practitioners reported not using electrotherapy, the most common reason being lack of evidence.

Conclusions: We found that a majority of practitioners used electrotherapies on children. The reasons for using or not using electrotherapy were practitioner centred.