AN ANALYSIS COMPARING THE AWARENESS OF PHYSIOTHERAPY BETWEEN HEALTH PROFESSIONALS AND NON-HEALTH PROFESSIONALS

Abstract

Physiotherapy has become a crucial element in the current health-care system. The majority of people in urban and suburban settings have a poor comprehension of physiotherapy and the therapeutic approaches that underlie it. As a result, an effort has been made to assess the degree of knowledge about physiotherapy among those who are not trained in the medical field as well as those who are employed in the medical field in Jalandhar's urban and rural places. A convenience sample of 200 persons was recruited from the urban and rural population of Jalandhar. The sample consisted of 100 professionals and 100 non-professionals, with 50 individuals from each category. The results were collected by self-administered and pretested questionnaires that specifically assessed the degree of physiotherapy knowledge among both healthcare professionals and non-healthcare workers. The data underwent a statistical analysis using an independent t-test, and significance was determined at a 95% confidence level (p < 0.05). The dependability was determined using Karl Pearson's product-moment approach. The statistical analysis revealed that health professionals possessed a significantly greater understanding of physiotherapy in comparison to non-health professionals (p < 0.05), as indicated by a t-value of 28.330. The level of knowledge of physiotherapy was significantly higher among non-health professionals residing in urban areas compared to those in rural areas, as shown by a statistically significant t-value of 3.7819 (p < 0.05). Urban health professionals had a notably greater degree of understanding of physiotherapy in comparison to their rural counterparts. The observed difference was statistically significant, as shown by a t-value of 12.567 (p<0.05). Furthermore, urban non-health professionals had a greater level of understanding with physiotherapy compared to their rural counterparts who are also non-health professionals.