Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare the perceptions of physical therapists and physical therapist/athletic trainers on athletic trainer utilization in the physical therapy clinic. Subjects: The subjects of this study were a random selection of 100 physical therapists and 100 physical therapist/athletic trainers. Methodology: A survey with demographic variables and a list of tasks that physical therapists may choose to delegate was remodeled. Collected data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences for frequency of responses. Crosstabs and Chi-Square analysis were performed for delegation of tasks. Alpha level was set at .05. Results: Significance was found in both categories (patients with athletic injuries and patients with other mechanism of injury or disease), for the following tasks: electrical stimulation, treatment of arthritis, isokinetic testing, ultrasound, soft tissue/joint mobilization, treatment of neurological problems and PROM/stretching. There were more significant differences of delegating duties for patients with athletic injuries. Conclusion: With the interpretation of the data with PT/ATCs responses suggested that athletic trainers deserve more consideration in tasks delegated within clinical roles, whereas physical therapists believed that the ATC should not be delegated most of the tasks within the study.
| Date of Award | Jan 1 1998 |
|---|
| Original language | English |
|---|