Assessing Physical Therapy Students' Knowledge, Application, and Intent to Clinically Utilize the APTA Movement System
Purpose/Hypothesis: The purpose of this study was to determine DPT students’ knowledge, confidence with clinical application, and intent to apply the APTA-Movement System (APTA-MS) into their clinical practice pre- and post- didactic lecture. To date, this was the first study to analyze DPT students and the APTA-MS.
H1: Students will express knowledge of the purpose and components of the movement system pre-lecture.
H2: Students will express intent to use the movement system in clinical practice pre-lecture.
H3: Students will express intent to use the movement system in clinical practice and this will not change post-lecture.
H4: Students will express a positive change in knowledge of the movement system purpose, components, and the basic requirements of a movement system practitioner post-lecture.
Number of Subjects: 45
Materials and Methods: A pre-test post-test design involved collaboration between neurologic physical therapy residents and third year entry level DPT students at a local university. Students attended didactic lectures over two separate days that included the APTA’s vision for the movement system, basic components of the movement system, and its application into clinical practice with case scenarios. Students completed a 10-question survey pre- and post-lecture with each question having a 5-point Likert scale. The survey questions were grouped into 3 general categories: knowledge, application, and intent to utilize the movement system in the clinic. Survey responses for each question were calculated by percentages of response type. Significant pre to post responses to each question item were determined by the Wilcoxon signed rank test with p-value set at 0.05.
Results: In the knowledge category, 80% reported increased knowledge of the movement system components post-lecture, and 48% reported an increased understanding of how to determine the movement system diagnosis in case scenarios. In the application category, 71% reported increased understanding of how to use the movement system template in patient care. In the intent category, respondent’s intent to use the movement system clinically did not demonstrate significant change (p = 0.239).
Conclusions: DPT students understood the purpose of the Movement System and have intent to use it in clinical practice. The additional education reinforced and provided information to bridge the gap between didactic knowledge and clinical application.
Clinical Relevance: The movement system is a new concept established by the APTA. In order to gain widespread use, implementation of the movement system in DPT didactic coursework allows entry level practitioners to confidently incorporate the movement system into clinical practice. Students may begin to implement the movement system during clinical rotations, therefore exposing practicing clinicians.