Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Jul 30;22(1):284.
doi: 10.1186/s12883-022-02780-5.

Current physical therapy practice and implementation factors regarding the evidence-based 'Rehabilitation of Mobility after Stroke (ReMoS)' guideline in Germany: a cross-sectional online survey

Bettina Scheffler  1 , Florian Schimböck  2 , Almut Schöler  3 , Katrin Rösner  4 , Jacob Spallek  5 , Christian Kopkow  3
Affiliations

Current physical therapy practice and implementation factors regarding the evidence-based 'Rehabilitation of Mobility after Stroke (ReMoS)' guideline in Germany: a cross-sectional online survey

Bettina Scheffler et al. BMC Neurol. .

Abstract

Background: Evaluation of the current physical therapy practice for German stroke rehabilitation with respect to the 'Rehabilitation of Mobility after Stroke (ReMoS)' guideline recommendations and the associated implementation factors.

Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study employing an online survey was performed among German physical therapists in 2019. The survey consisted of three sections with open and closed questions: 1) self-reported use of ReMoS recommendations, 2) barriers of guideline use and 3) socio-demographic characteristics. The benchmark level for guideline adherent physical therapy was set at > 80%.

Results: Data from 170 questionnaires were eligible for analysis. Participants' mean age was 41.6 years, 69.4% were female, while 60.1% had no academic degree. The ReMoS guideline was unknown to 52.9% of the responders. Out of all the 46 ReMoS guideline recommendations, only 'intensive walking training without a treadmill' was reported to be performed in a guideline adherent manner. Respondents usually denied any personal limitations, such as limited knowledge, or that the ReMoS guideline did not fit their routine practice.

Conclusions: Among German physical therapists, the ReMoS guideline is not well-known and many interventions are not performed as recommended, illustrating the discrepancies between the ReMoS guideline recommendations and current physical therapy practice. Interventions aimed at overcoming this gap should consider both knowledge of existing barriers and facilitators of guideline usage.

Trial registration: The study was retrospectively registered to the German Clinical Trials Register ( DRKS00026681 ).

Keywords: Cross-sectional study; Guideline adherence; Implementation factors; Online survey; Physical therapy; Rehabilitation; Stroke.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Collaborators GS. Global, regional, and national burden of stroke and its risk factors, 1990-2019: a systematic analysis for the global burden of disease study 2019. Lancet Neurol. 2021;20(10):795–820. doi: 10.1016/S1474-4422(21)00252-0. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wafa HA, Wolfe CDA, Emmett E, Roth GA, Johnson CO, Wang Y. Burden of stroke in Europe: thirty-year projections of incidence, prevalence, deaths, and disability-adjusted life years. Stroke. 2020;51(8):2418–2427. doi: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.120.029606. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Robert-Koch-Institut. Gesundheit in Deutschland. Gesundheitsberichterstattung des Bundes. Gemeinsam getragen von RKI und Destatis. Berlin: RKI; 2015. 10.17886/rkipubl-2015-003-2.
    1. Lo J, Chan L, Flynn S. A systematic review of the incidence, prevalence, costs, and activity and work limitations of amputation, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, Back pain, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury, stroke, and traumatic brain injury in the United States: a 2019 update. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2021;102(1):115–131. doi: 10.1016/j.apmr.2020.04.001. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Pollock A, St George B, Fenton M, Firkins L. Top 10 research priorities relating to life after stroke–consensus from stroke survivors, caregivers, and health professionals. Int J Stroke. 2014;9(3):313–320. doi: 10.1111/j.1747-4949.2012.00942.x. - DOI - PubMed