Physical Therapy in the Intensive Care Unit: A Comparative Study of Three Asian Countries

• Sponsor: China Medical University Hospital (Other)
• Overall Status: Completed
• CT.gov ID: NCT05600478
• Collaborator: China Medical University, Taiwan (Other), Mariano Marcos State University (Other), Juntendo University (Other)
• Enrollment: 164
• Location: 1
• Actual Duration (Months): 3.4
• Patients Per Site Per Month: 48

Study Details

Study Description

Brief Summary

This descriptive-comparative study has explored and presented an overview of the extent of PT practice in the ICU in JP, PH, and TW. Specifically, the socio-demographic and ICU-related profiles of physical therapists (PTs) in Japan (JP), Philippines (PH), and Taiwan (TW) were presented, with the inclusion of the common PT interventions and challenges encountered in delivering PT services in the ICU in the said countries.

Included in the socio-demographic variables are the respondents' sex, age, highest educational attainment, PT work experience, and hospital affiliation. As to the ICU-related variables, it includes the respondents' ICU work experience, the types of ICU where respondents primarily work, the hiring department they belong to, the status of ICU posting, the duration of ICU posting, the daily ICU stay of the respondents, their engagement in on-call ICU PT services, the usual source of ICU patient referral, the number of daily ICU patients, the ratio of PT to ICU patients, and the level of participation in ICU-related PT training. Furthermore, different interventions that are commonly implemented and challenges that are commonly encountered in ICU PT service delivery in Japan, Philippines, and Taiwan were also investigated.

Condition or Disease	Intervention/Treatment	Phase
ICU

Detailed Description

Physical therapy (PT) is proven beneficial among critically ill patients. However, there is an extent to the practice of PT in the intensive care unit (ICU) which differs between countries. With this, the extent of PT practice in the ICU in three Asian countries, namely Japan (JP), Philippines (PH), and Taiwan (TW), was determined and compared by specifically determining the socio-demographic and ICU-related profile of physical therapists (PTs) who have worked in the ICU.

Study Design

• Study Type: Observational
• Actual Enrollment: 164 participants
• Observational Model: Cohort
• Time Perspective: Cross-Sectional
• Official Title: Physical Therapy in the Intensive Care Unit: A Comparative Study of Three Asian Countries
• Actual Study Start Date: Nov 6, 2021
• Actual Primary Completion Date: Feb 18, 2022
• Actual Study Completion Date: Feb 18, 2022

Arms and Interventions

Arm	Intervention/Treatment
Japan A group of ICU physical therapists working in Japan.
Philippines A group of ICU physical therapists working in the Philippines.
Taiwan A group of ICU physical therapists working in Taiwan.

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

1. Sex [November 6, 2021 to February 18, 2022]

   Asked in the form of MCQ

2. Highest educational attainment [November 6 2021, to February 18, 2022]

   PhD, Master, diploma

3. Work experience [November 6 2021, to February 18, 2022]

   Asked in the form of MCQ (by age range)

4. Hospital affiliation [November 6 2021, to February 18, 2022]

   Asked in the form of MCQ (with sub-classification: level, ownership, teaching affiliation)

5. ICU work experience [November 6 2021, to February 18, 2022]

   Asked in the form of MCQ (in range)

6. Type of ICU [November 6 2021, to February 18, 2022]

   Multiple answer question

7. Hiring department [November 6 2021, to February 18, 2022]

   Asked in the form of MCQ

8. Status of ICU posting [November 6 2021, to February 18, 2022]

   Asked in the form of MCQ

9. Duration of ICU posting [November 6 2021, to February 18, 2022]

   Asked in the form of MCQ (by time range)

10. ICU stay per day [November 6 2021, to February 18, 2022]

    Asked in the form of MCQ (by time range)

11. Engagement in on-call ICU PT service [November 6 2021, to February 18, 2022]

    Asked in the form of a dichotomous question

12. ICU PTs in the hospital [November 6 2021, to February 18, 2022]

    Asked via short answer question

13. Source of ICU patient referral [November 6 2021, to February 18, 2022]

    Asked in the form of MCQ

14. Number of ICU patients per day [November 6 2021, to February 18, 2022]

    Asked in the form of MCQ (by range)

15. PT-patient ratio [November 6 2021, to February 18, 2022]

    Asked in the form of MCQ

16. Participation in ICU-related PT trainin [November 6 2021, to February 18, 2022]

    Asked in the form of dichotomus, MCQ, and multiple answer question

17. Most common PT techniques implemented in the ICU [November 6 2021, to February 18, 2022]

    Multiple answer question

18. Challenges encountered in the delivery of PT services in the ICU [November 6 2021, to February 18, 2022]

    Multiple answer question

Eligibility Criteria

Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: N/A and Older
• Sexes Eligible for Study: All
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Inclusion Criteria:

• Physical therapists who:

1. are currently residing or working in Japan, Philippines, and Taiwan;

2. are working, or have worked in an ICU in JP, PH, or TW, and have provided PT services to critically ill patients regardless of age, sex, nationality/race, and years of work experience (in general);

3. have an active e-mail address; and

4. provided informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

• Physical therapists who are:

1. newly hired (or rotated) PTs with ICU duty but have not yet handled any ICU patient; and

2. licensed PTs from JP, PH, and TW but are based and/or are working abroad.

Contacts and Locations

Locations

	Site	City	State	Country	Postal Code
1	China Medical University	Taichung City	Taichung	Taiwan	406

Sponsors and Collaborators

• China Medical University Hospital
• China Medical University, Taiwan
• Mariano Marcos State University
• Juntendo University

Investigators

• Principal Investigator: Yu-Jung Cheng, PhD in BMS, China Medical University, Taiwan

Study Documents (Full-Text)

None provided.

More Information

Publications

• Sigera PC, Tunpattu TM, Jayashantha TP, De Silva AP, Athapattu PL, Dondorp A, Haniffa R. National Profile of Physical Therapists in Critical Care Units of Sri Lanka: Lower Middle-Income Country. Phys Ther. 2016 Jul;96(7):933-9. doi: 10.2522/ptj.20150363. Epub 2016 Feb 18.

• Responsible Party: Yu-Jung Cheng, Associate Professor, China Medical University, Taiwan
• ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT05600478
• Other Study ID Numbers: CMUH110-REC1-192
• First Posted: Oct 31, 2022
• Last Update Posted: Oct 31, 2022
• Last Verified: Oct 1, 2022

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated Drug Product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated Device Product: No
• Keywords provided by Yu-Jung Cheng, Associate Professor, China Medical University, Taiwan: Physiotherapy; Intensive care unit; ICU physical therapy

Study Results

No Results Posted as of Oct 31, 2022