KNOWLEDGE, USEFULNESS AND COMPETENCE OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN LOW-COST INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY-BASED TOOLS FOR PHYSICAL THERAPY

Introduction:
In the recent years, there has been an increasing interest in the use of low-cost ICTs in physical therapy to overcome some of the limitations of traditional interventions in both assessment and rehabilitation. In contrast to this global trend, it is unclear whether physiotherapists are trained accordingly about the clinical use of low-cost tools during their bachelor’s degree education. The objective of this study was to determine a) to which extent undergraduate students consider low-cost ICTs as valuable tools for their clinical daily practice, and b) to which extent they have been trained about these tools during their degree studies.

Methods:
We conducted a survey among 300 undergraduate students who were in the last two years of the physiotherapy degree at University of Valencia (Valencia, Spain). The questionnaire consisted of different questions that evaluated the perceived usefulness of low-cost ICTs, their knowledge about different tools (such as phone apps, videogames, and virtual reality), their interest, and their competence in using these tools, as derived from the training received during their undergraduate education.

Results:
The results of the survey revealed, for undergraduate physiotherapy students, a lack of knowledge about low-cost ICTs and their application to physical therapy, in spite of the fact that they evaluated these tools as useful for their daily routine. Students also considered that low-cost ICTs are interesting for their daily clinical practice but expressed a lack of academic training, which affected their competence in using these tools.

Conclusion:
Low-cost ICTs are considered useful and interesting tools for physical therapy, although they are not accordingly taught during degree studies. As this technology is becoming more and more popular and widely used, future university curricula should include this topic to increase students’ competence.