Examination of Prosthetics and Orthotics Rehabilitation Awareness Among Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation Students

Orthotic and prosthetic devices are essential rehabilitation tools that facilitate the participation of individuals experiencing functional limitations-due to various health issues such as amputation, musculoskeletal pathologies, neurological disorders, and congenital anomalies-in daily social life, while enhancing their quality of life and supporting their overall well-being. In recent years, rapid advances in the fields of biomedical engineering, materials science, and digital health technologies have enabled these devices to be designed in an increasingly durable, lightweight, and functionally superior manner. However, technological development alone is insufficient, and optimal outcomes can only be achieved through a personalized rehabilitation approach based on interdisciplinary collaboration.

Physiotherapists are among the important members of the rehabilitation team in this process, with core competencies such as ambulation assessment, functional rehabilitation planning, and orthosis/prosthesis design and rehabilitation, and they work in direct collaboration with orthotist-prosthetists. In orthotic rehabilitation, the core responsibilities of the physiotherapist include increasing range of motion, reducing pain, developing muscle strength, improving muscle function, enhancing independence, preventing possible complications through early detection, and improving quality of life. Physiotherapists also play an important role in educating patients and their relatives on device use, integrating the orthosis into activities of daily living, and managing long-term follow-up. Their responsibilities in the orthotic rehabilitation process include determining the need for an orthosis, selecting the device appropriate to the individual and the condition, evaluating its effect on functionality, teaching donning/doffing and other usage features, monitoring device-related complications, and planning the exercise and rehabilitation process.

In prosthetic rehabilitation, the contribution of physiotherapists begins in the pre-amputation period, including preparing the individual for amputation surgery, strengthening exercises, and pre-prosthetic preparation programs. In the post-amputation period, physiotherapists are actively involved in prosthesis selection, ensuring prosthesis fit, gait training, balance and coordination exercises, and adaptation to different suspension systems. Facilitating individuals' return to daily life, social environments, and school/occupation is also among the core goals of physiotherapists in prosthetic rehabilitation.

Despite these critical roles, research on professional knowledge and awareness in this field remains limited. A cross-sectional study conducted among students in orthotics and prosthetics departments in Turkey found that participants correctly answered only about one-third of the questions in a professional awareness questionnaire, clearly demonstrating the need for educational interventions aimed at increasing awareness. Considering that the professional knowledge, self-efficacy perception, and attitudes that students acquire during their undergraduate education directly shape their post-graduation clinical practices and their functioning within the rehabilitation team, determining these variables at an early stage is of great importance for effectively guiding educational programs. Systematic reviews in the field of orthotic and prosthetic education indicate that research on this subject remains limited, and studies from the perspective of undergraduate education are particularly insufficient. Furthermore, no study has been found in the existing literature that jointly addresses the knowledge levels, self-efficacy perceptions, and attitudes of physiotherapy and rehabilitation students specific to the field of orthotics-prosthetics. This gap is considered notable given the critical role this professional group undertakes in the rehabilitation process.

Objectives: The main purpose of this study is to determine the knowledge levels, self-efficacy perceptions, and attitudes of students enrolled in the undergraduate Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation program regarding orthotic and prosthetic rehabilitation. The secondary purpose is to examine whether these variables differ according to class level, clinical experience, and demographic/academic characteristics. The findings are expected to contribute to the development of physiotherapy and rehabilitation education programs, strengthen interprofessional collaboration, and improve the quality of rehabilitation services.