Abstract:

Musculoskeletal conditions are one of the leading causes of years lived with disability worldwide, ranking second among the causes of non-fatal disability. Manual therapy is a widely used intervention for treating these conditions, characterized by pain and dysfunction. In particular, joint mobilization techniques play an essential role in the clinical practice of physiotherapy. However, acquiring the psychomotor skills necessary for their correct execution continues to be a significant challenge in higher education, especially regarding the control of biomechanical parameters and technical precision. Traditionally, teaching follows a teacher-centered model based on demonstration, supervised practice, and mainly subjective feedback, which can limit the accurate detection of technical errors. In this context, immersive virtual reality (IVR) emerges as an alternative capable of offering safe environments, objective feedback, and greater opportunities for autonomous practice, thereby promoting the acquisition of psychomotor skills and enhancing student motivation.

The aim of the present study was to examine undergraduate physiotherapy students' perceptions of different methods and tools, including digital resources and virtual reality, for learning manual therapy techniques. Following a cross-sectional design, 85 undergraduate physiotherapy students (47% female; aged 19–47 years) from the third and fourth years of the Physiotherapy degree at the University of Málaga participated in the study. Participants completed a questionnaire with both closed- (Likert scale from 1 to 5) and open-ended questions regarding different methods and tools, including digital resources and virtual reality, for learning manual therapy techniques. The questionnaire was completed anonymously via LimeSurvey using their own smartphones, in groups of 40–45 students, in an ordinary classroom under quiet conditions.

The results showed that the most difficult aspect perceived by students was the correct execution of the technique (27%), followed by manual blood sampling (15%), knowledge of anatomy and physiology (12%), and solving clinical cases (11%). On average, students considered several methods for learning manual therapy highly useful, such as teachers’ explanation and demonstration of the technique and watching the technique in a video before practicing (4.2–4.6 out of 5). Moreover, students considered it useful to have complementary tools available, such as technology- and digital media-based resources, to learn manual therapy (4.2–4.6 out of 5). In particular, students mainly indicated that a digital tool for learning manual therapy should allow them to improve the accuracy and speed of execution (47%), followed by being realistic (9%), including real cases (7%), being motivating (7%), and serving as a complement to traditional learning (6%). Furthermore, students showed interest in IVR as a learning tool (4.5 out of 5) and reported a high willingness to use IVR as a training complement (4.5 out of 5).

In conclusion, the main training need among students concerns improving the execution of the technique. Although traditional teaching methodologies are viewed positively by students, their strong interest in and willingness to use IVR suggest that integrating digital tools with objective feedback could effectively complement these methods.

Keywords:

VR, digital technologies, opinions, Physiotherapy degree, higher education.