Physiotherapists knowledge, attitudes, and practices about therapeutic interventions for cognitive and motor impairments in adult patients with traumatic brain injury

Background and aim: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) affects brain functions, often leading to a range of cognitive and motor impairments, necessitating effective rehabilitation. It is expedient for physiotherapists to have adequate knowledge, an appropriate attitude, and practice towards managing cognitive and motor impairments in adults with TBI. This study assessed physiotherapists’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices of cognitive and motor impairments in adult patients with TBI. Methods: This cross-sectional study involved 75 physiotherapists recruited from 8 hospitals in South-West Nigeria via purposive sampling. A self-developed questionnaire administered via Google Forms® was used to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of physiotherapists towards cognitive and motor impairments in adult patients with TBI. Descriptive statistics of mean, median, range, percentages, and frequency distribution tables were used in summarizing the KAP, while the association/correlation between KAP scores and selected demographic/profession-related characteristics was also investigated using inferential statistics of the Man-Whitney U, Kruskal Wallis, and Spearman ranked correlation. The level of significance was set at p< 0.05. Results: The mean age of the participants was 28.73 ± 7.093 years, predominantly female (53.3%), with a bachelor’s degree in physiotherapy (78.7%), and specializing in neuro-physiotherapy. Most respondents demonstrated knowledge of cognitive 45 (60%) and motor 42 (56%) impairments in adult TBI patients. There was a (rho = 0.259) positive significant correlation (p= 0.025) between the age of the physiotherapist and their knowledge of the management of cognitive and motor impairment in adult patients with TBI. Conclusion: Many physiotherapists in South-West Nigeria demonstrate good knowledge of TBI, with this knowledge increasing with age. This study underscores the importance of continuous educational training for physiotherapists, a consequence of which should be better rehabilitation and functional outcomes for people with TBI.