Clinical Research Directory

Prosthetics-Orthotics Rehabilitation Awareness

Orthotic and prosthetic devices are essential rehabilitation tools for individuals with functional limitations resulting from amputation, musculoskeletal pathologies, neurological disorders, and congenital anomalies. Physiotherapists play a central role in orthotic and prosthetic rehabilitation, including need assessment, device selection, functional evaluation, patient education, and long-term follow-up. However, limited research has examined the knowledge, self-efficacy, and attitudes of physiotherapy students regarding this field during undergraduate education. This descriptive, cross-sectional study aims to evaluate the knowledge, self-efficacy perception, and attitudes of undergraduate Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation students regarding orthotic and prosthetic rehabilitation. The study population consists of third- and fourth-year students enrolled in the Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation program at Lokman Hekim University, Faculty of Health Sciences, who have completed coursework related to orthotic and prosthetic rehabilitation and voluntarily agree to participate. Data will be collected online via Google Forms using two tools: a demographic information form (age, gender, class level, grade point average, theoretical coursework, and clinical internship experience) and the Orthotics and Prosthetics Awareness Questionnaire. This 32-item questionnaire, developed by the investigators based on relevant literature and finalized through expert consultation using the Delphi technique, covers three subdimensions: Knowledge (11 items), Self-Efficacy (9 items), and Attitude (12 items), rated on a 5-point Likert scale. The study will also examine whether knowledge, self-efficacy, and attitude scores differ according to class level, clinical experience (observation of devices and patients, level of participation in application processes), and academic performance. The findings are expected to contribute to the development of physiotherapy and rehabilitation curricula, strengthen interprofessional collaboration between physiotherapists and orthotist-prosthetists, and support the improvement of rehabilitation service quality in this field.