The current state of pain education within Canadian physiotherapy programs: a national survey of pain educators. Issue 9 (23rd April 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wideman, Timothy H.; Miller, Jordan; Bostick, Geoff; Thomas, Aliki; Bussières, André; Wickens, Rebekah H.
• Is Part Of: Disability and rehabilitation. Volume 42:Issue 9(2020)
• Page Start: 1332
• Page End: 1338
• Publication Date: 2020-04-23
• Subjects: Physical therapists -- surveys and questionnaires -- curriculum -- pain; People with disabilities -- Periodicals; Rehabilitation -- Periodicals; 617.03
• DOI: 10.1080/09638288.2018.1519044
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0963-8288

Abstract

Abstract: Purpose: To determine the current state of pain education across physiotherapy programs in Canada. Materials and methods: Educators that were responsible for teaching pain-related content at each of the 14 Canadian physiotherapy programs were invited to complete a cross-sectional survey. The online survey evaluated total time spent on pain education and the integration of content from international guidelines on pain education curricula. Results and conclusions: Complete data were obtained from all Canadian physiotherapy programs. The total median time spent on pain education was 18 h, ranging from 8 to 65 h. Across all programs, only 38.6% of the recommended pain curriculum themes were fully integrated within physiotherapy programs. Most of the curriculum themes were partially addressed (median: 52.6%) and a small minority were not addressed (median: 10.5%). There was an overall trend in which greater time spent on pain education corresponded to a higher proportion of pain curriculum themes that were fully integrated. This is the first national survey of pain education that has included all physiotherapy programs across Canada. These data provide a foundation for understanding the current resources and content dedicated to pain education and are an essential step in benchmarking and potentially improving pain education for physiotherapists. Implications for rehabilitation: Integrating pain education within entry-level physiotherapy programs is a foundational step in translating pain research into effective physiotherapy pain management. This survey of all entry-level physiotherapy programs across Canada shows considerable variability in the time and scope of pain education and that, on average, less than 40% of recommended pain education curriculum content is adequately addressed. This work highlights the need for national reference standards in pain education to help improve consistency across training programs.