Current Practices in and Barriers to Physiotherapists’ Use of Resistance Exercise with Older Adults in Acute Care

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to describe physiotherapists’ current use of resistance exercise (REx) with older adults in acute care and to identify barriers to its use with this population. Methods: We developed an online questionnaire guided by the theoretical domains framework and distributed it to physiotherapists across British Columbia. We used thematic analysis to code open-text questionnaire responses. Results:One hundred five physiotherapists completed the questionnaire (78% female; mean age 39.9 [SD 10.3] years; mean years of experience 12.4 [SD 10.3]). Respondents reported frequently performing functional testing (95%) and assessing muscle strength (70%) in older adults, but few often prescribed REx (34%). The greatest barriers to use of REx that respondents identified were lack of prioritization of REx among other duties and perceived poor patient motivation. Open-text data analysis revealed that respondents felt that some patients were unable to perform REx and that physiotherapists lacked a clear definition of REx and sufficient support personnel. Conclusions: Addressing treatment priorities, patient motivation, and staffing resources can support physiotherapists in increasing REx use, an important strategy for reducing the incidence of hospital-associated deconditioning among older adults in acute care settings.