Do occupational therapy and physiotherapy students care about research? A survey of perceptions and attitudes to research

Abstract

Do occupational therapy and physiotherapy students care about research? A survey of perceptions and attitudes to research. In this cross-sectional study, we have used a questionnaire to study perceptions and attitudes to research-related activities of Swedish occupational therapy and physiotherapy first (T1) and final term (T6) students. Two hundred and eleven students from programmes employing either problem-based learning (PBL) or traditional education methods participated. The results showed that students had a positive attitude towards research, particularly for the activity 'read research literature to update knowledge' and 'apply research findings to improve practice'. When T1 were compared with T6 students, the ability to perform research-related activities was rated significantly higher by T6 students regardless of educational methods. A comparison of PBL and the traditional educational method resulted in moderate but significant differences. The PBL students had a more positive attitude towards research and to a greater extent intended to engage in research activities in the future. The results give hope for a positive future development of the occupational therapy and physiotherapy professions and a PBL education method may be more conducive to the shaping of a research consumer than a traditional method, although more research is needed to substantiate these claims.