Situation of Physiotherapy Clinics in the Community of Madrid in Relation to the Concept of Sustainability: A Survey Study

Abstract

Introduction: Nowadays, it is increasingly urgent to regulate the use of the natural resources of our planet. From the field of physiotherapy, it is necessary to address this issue to ensure that our centers comply as much as possible with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Objective: To analyze the current situation in physiotherapy clinics in the Community of Madrid so as to identify whether their managers are aware of the concept of sustainability and its levels of application. Material and Methods: A survey study was carried out with the collaboration of 52 physiotherapy clinics in the Community of Madrid (Spain) to collect relevant data on sustainability. The questions were designed by experts in physiotherapy and sustainability with the aim of obtaining as much information as possible, analyzing the knowledge of sustainability and part of the goals established in the 2030 agenda. The procedures were conducted following the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) statement and checklist, in addition to following the Declaration of Helsinki. The study was approved by the Local Ethics Committee of the European University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain (CIPI/22.016). Results: A total of 35 questions were answered by 52 physiotherapy clinics in the Autonomous Community of Madrid (Spain) that completed the survey. In addition to the results of each question related to the concept of sustainability, significant differences were observed in the proportion of emotions detected with the NRC dictionary in the question about how waste is removed from the center (p = 0.002 and 0.008, respectively) with a higher proportion of positive feelings with emotions of joy, anticipation, confidence and surprise expressed by participants from clinics of less than 90 m2, while in those from clinics of more than 90 m2, negative feelings predominated with emotions of disgust, fear or sadness; in both cases, the effect of size was large and significant. Conclusions: Most of the physiotherapy clinics in the Community of Madrid that participated in the study are aware of the concept of sustainability. However, in practice, they do not sufficiently apply sustainability protocols in their clinics.