EBP Confidence and Behavior Throughout PT Edu

Completed

• Conditions: Physical Therapy; Evidence Based Practice; Education
• Interventions: Behavioral: Education

• Registration Number: NCT05868018
• Lead Sponsor: Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

Brief Summary

This study aimed to describe changes in EBP confidence and behavior of students from four physical therapy education programs throughout their curriculum using the Evidence-Based Practice Confidence (EPIC) Scale and the Evidence-Based Practice Implementation Scale (EBPIS).

Detailed Description

Introduction Evidence-based practice (EBP) is a foundational process taught in health professional education, yet it is unclear when EBP confidence and skills are obtained.

Review of Literature Increases in EBP confidence and behaviors from the start of physical therapy programs to post graduation have been reported in studies that evaluated a single program or used non-valid questionnaires. This study aimed to describe changes in EBP confidence and behavior of students from four physical therapy education programs throughout their curriculum.

Subjects Two hundred sixty-nine physical therapy students were recruited across 4 PT programs (3 in US and 1 in Canada).

Methods Students completed the Evidence-Based Practice Confidence (EPIC) Scale and the Evidence-Based Practice Implementation Scale (EBPIS) at 6 timepoints: start of the program, prior to first clinical experience, after first clinical experience, at the end of classroom instruction, graduation, and one year post. Medians (Mdn) and 25th and 75th percentiles (P25, P75) were calculated for 42 (23.2%) students with complete data across all timepoints. Change between timepoints was assessed using Friedman's test and Wilcoxon signed rank test with a Bonferroni correction for post hoc analysis.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2014-07-22
• Primary Completion: 2019-08-01
• Study Completion: 2019-08-01
• Status Verified: 2023-05
• Study First Submitted: 2023-05-02
• Study First Submitted QC: 2023-05-11
• Last Update Submitted: 2023-05-11
• Study First Posted: 2023-05-22
• Last Update Posted: 2023-05-22

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 269

Inclusion Criteria

• students enrolled in the 4 selected physical therapy programs

Exclusion Criteria

Study & Design

• Study Type: OBSERVATIONAL
• Study Design: Not specified

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
DPT A	Education	Students from University A received their typical evidence based practice education over 3 years.
DPT B	Education	Students from University B received their typical evidence based practice education over 3 years.
DPT C	Education	Students from University C received their typical evidence based practice education over 3 years.
MSPT	Education	Students from University D received their typical evidence based practice education over 2 years.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Evidence Based Practice Behavior	3 years	18 item questionnaire
Evidence Based Practice Confidence	4 years	10 item questionnaire