Physiotherapy and medicines management: A pilot study

Aim: Only 2.7% of UK registered physiotherapists are qualified to prescribe. This pilot study explored attitudes to medicine use, barriers to prescribing in practice for physiotherapists and training needs.

Methods: An online questionnaire was distributed via professional networks. Descriptive statistics were used to quantify data with t-tests and Mann-Whitney-U tests were used to explore correlations in data. Qualitative (free text) data were analysed for common themes using thematic analysis.

Findings: A total of 51 physiotherapists (37% n= 19) prescribers completed the questionnaire. Attitudes towards medicines were similar. Respondents understood the benefits of prescribing but identified personal, professional and organisational barriers. Lack of pharmacology knowledge was reported by 56.7% (n=25) and identified as a training need among physiotherapists who had qualified in the UK (n=44), 40% (n= 20) of respondents identified a lack of support for physiotherapist prescribing in the workplace.

Conclusions: Exploring physiotherapists' attitudes towards medicines and barriers to implementation of prescribing offers the potential for supportive interventions and future research.