Factors influencing utilization of physiotherapy services by health care providers at Busia County Referral Hospital in Kenya

Abstract

Abstract Background The surging trend of noncommunicable diseases complicated by trauma and infectious diseases has left many with marked physical limitations. Physiotherapy component of primary health care could be utilized for management of both communicable and noncommunicable diseases to restore physical functions. Objectives To establish the health care providers’ level of knowledge and factors that influence the utilization of physiotherapy services among community members of Busia County in Kenya. The association between level of knowledge and demographic profile of health care providers at BCRH was also established. Method Descriptive cross-sectional quantitative study involved 192 participants (nurses, doctors, and clinical officers) who were purposively selected. They completed self-administered questionnaire between August and November 2019. They were both sexes above 18 years of age, drawn from Busia County Referral Hospital. Data was analysed by Microsoft Excel and SPSS version 25. Results The majority (92%) of the health care service providers had adequate knowledge about physiotherapy from their training to working with likelihood ratio chi-square of 7.714 with p-value at 0.01 at 5% level of significant. They had excellent communication (86.03%) with physiotherapists and helped to refer patients at BCRH for physiotherapy (χ2 = 52.02 and p-value = 0.01) at 5% level of significant. They had trust (91.56%) that physiotherapists were knowledgeable enough to handle patients on their own. Conclusion The health care service providers are knowledgeable about the importance of physiotherapy and have supported its utilization. However, there is need to integrate physiotherapy service at all levels of training and practice of the components of primary health care. This will lead to a holistic patient’s care in terms of preventive, curative, and rehabilitative. Quality of life for the community members will be enhanced for appropriate functionality to meet the population needs. Lower utilization of physiotherapy services in Busia County could be due to factors associated with dynamics within the community and the health care service providers.