Physical Therapy in the Intensive Care Unit: A Comparative Study of Three Asian Countries

This descriptive-comparative study has explored and presented an overview of the extent of PT practice in the ICU in JP, PH, and TW. Specifically, the socio-demographic and ICU-related profiles of physical therapists (PTs) in Japan (JP), Philippines (PH), and Taiwan (TW) were presented, with the inclusion of the common PT interventions and challenges encountered in delivering PT services in the ICU in the said countries.

Included in the socio-demographic variables are the respondents' sex, age, highest educational attainment, PT work experience, and hospital affiliation. As to the ICU-related variables, it includes the respondents' ICU work experience, the types of ICU where respondents primarily work, the hiring department they belong to, the status of ICU posting, the duration of ICU posting, the daily ICU stay of the respondents, their engagement in on-call ICU PT services, the usual source of ICU patient referral, the number of daily ICU patients, the ratio of PT to ICU patients, and the level of participation in ICU-related PT training. Furthermore, different interventions that are commonly implemented and challenges that are commonly encountered in ICU PT service delivery in Japan, Philippines, and Taiwan were also investigated.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: ICU

Detailed Description

Physical therapy (PT) is proven beneficial among critically ill patients. However, there is an extent to the practice of PT in the intensive care unit (ICU) which differs between countries. With this, the extent of PT practice in the ICU in three Asian countries, namely Japan (JP), Philippines (PH), and Taiwan (TW), was determined and compared by specifically determining the socio-demographic and ICU-related profile of physical therapists (PTs) who have worked in the ICU.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 164

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Taiwan
  • Taichung
    • Taichung City, Taichung, Taiwan, 406
      • China Medical University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child; Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

The study included physical therapists who are based in Japan, Philippines, and Taiwan

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Physical therapists who:

  1. are currently residing or working in Japan, Philippines, and Taiwan;
  2. are working, or have worked in an ICU in JP, PH, or TW, and have provided PT services to critically ill patients regardless of age, sex, nationality/race, and years of work experience (in general);
  3. have an active e-mail address; and
  4. provided informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

• Physical therapists who are:

  1. newly hired (or rotated) PTs with ICU duty but have not yet handled any ICU patient; and
  2. licensed PTs from JP, PH, and TW but are based and/or are working abroad.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

3

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Japan; A group of ICU physical therapists working in Japan.
Philippines; A group of ICU physical therapists working in the Philippines.
Taiwan; A group of ICU physical therapists working in Taiwan.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Sex	Asked in the form of MCQ	November 6, 2021 to February 18, 2022
Highest educational attainment	PhD, Master, diploma	November 6 2021, to February 18, 2022
Work experience	Asked in the form of MCQ (by age range)	November 6 2021, to February 18, 2022
Hospital affiliation	Asked in the form of MCQ (with sub-classification: level, ownership, teaching affiliation)	November 6 2021, to February 18, 2022
ICU work experience	Asked in the form of MCQ (in range)	November 6 2021, to February 18, 2022
Type of ICU	Multiple answer question	November 6 2021, to February 18, 2022
Hiring department	Asked in the form of MCQ	November 6 2021, to February 18, 2022
Status of ICU posting	Asked in the form of MCQ	November 6 2021, to February 18, 2022
Duration of ICU posting	Asked in the form of MCQ (by time range)	November 6 2021, to February 18, 2022
ICU stay per day	Asked in the form of MCQ (by time range)	November 6 2021, to February 18, 2022
Engagement in on-call ICU PT service	Asked in the form of a dichotomous question	November 6 2021, to February 18, 2022
ICU PTs in the hospital	Asked via short answer question	November 6 2021, to February 18, 2022
Source of ICU patient referral	Asked in the form of MCQ	November 6 2021, to February 18, 2022
Number of ICU patients per day	Asked in the form of MCQ (by range)	November 6 2021, to February 18, 2022
PT-patient ratio	Asked in the form of MCQ	November 6 2021, to February 18, 2022
Participation in ICU-related PT trainin	Asked in the form of dichotomus, MCQ, and multiple answer question	November 6 2021, to February 18, 2022
Most common PT techniques implemented in the ICU	Multiple answer question	November 6 2021, to February 18, 2022
Challenges encountered in the delivery of PT services in the ICU	Multiple answer question	November 6 2021, to February 18, 2022

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: China Medical University Hospital
• Collaborators: Juntendo University; China Medical University, Taiwan; Mariano Marcos State University
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Yu-Jung Cheng, PhD in BMS, China Medical University, Taiwan

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Sigera PC, Tunpattu TM, Jayashantha TP, De Silva AP, Athapattu PL, Dondorp A, Haniffa R. National Profile of Physical Therapists in Critical Care Units of Sri Lanka: Lower Middle-Income Country. Phys Ther. 2016 Jul;96(7):933-9. doi: 10.2522/ptj.20150363. Epub 2016 Feb 18.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): November 6, 2021
• Primary Completion (Actual): February 18, 2022
• Study Completion (Actual): February 18, 2022

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: July 31, 2022
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 26, 2022
• First Posted (Actual): October 31, 2022

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): October 31, 2022
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 26, 2022
• Last Verified: October 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Intensive care unit; Physiotherapy; ICU physical therapy
• Other Study ID Numbers: CMUH110-REC1-192

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No