Abstract
Aim: To investigate physiotherapists' self-reported frequency of contact with patients experiencing suicidal distress and examine physiotherapists’ psychosocial orientation and practice area as predictors of having had a patient disclose a plan for suicide.
Design: An online cross-sectional survey of Australian physiotherapists.
Method: A non-probabilistic sample of 340 physiotherapists completed a questionnaire advertised on social media. Psychosocial practice orientation was measured with the modified Physician Belief Scale. Descriptive and regression analyses were conducted.
Results: 51.2% of respondents reported having a patient disclose suicidal thoughts at least once a year. 49.1% reported having had a person disclose a plan for suicide at least once in their career. Psychosocial orientation and practice area explained 22.9% (Nagelkerke R2) of the variance in having had a patient disclose a plan for suicide (p < 0.001). Increasing psychosocial orientation was associated with a higher likelihood of having had a patient disclose a plan for suicide. Physiotherapists working in pain management had 15.9 times higher odds (95% CI 2.0 to 128) of having had a patient disclose a plan for suicide than other physiotherapists.
Conclusion: Physiotherapists’ psychosocial orientation and practice area appear to influence the likelihood of patient disclosure of suicide plans. Almost half of the respondents had a person disclose a suicide plan at some point in their career.
Key Practice Points:
• Suicide prevention is physiotherapists’ ‘business.’
• All physiotherapists should be competent in the provision of crisis support.
• Physiotherapists working in pain management would benefit from advanced crisis support training.
Design: An online cross-sectional survey of Australian physiotherapists.
Method: A non-probabilistic sample of 340 physiotherapists completed a questionnaire advertised on social media. Psychosocial practice orientation was measured with the modified Physician Belief Scale. Descriptive and regression analyses were conducted.
Results: 51.2% of respondents reported having a patient disclose suicidal thoughts at least once a year. 49.1% reported having had a person disclose a plan for suicide at least once in their career. Psychosocial orientation and practice area explained 22.9% (Nagelkerke R2) of the variance in having had a patient disclose a plan for suicide (p < 0.001). Increasing psychosocial orientation was associated with a higher likelihood of having had a patient disclose a plan for suicide. Physiotherapists working in pain management had 15.9 times higher odds (95% CI 2.0 to 128) of having had a patient disclose a plan for suicide than other physiotherapists.
Conclusion: Physiotherapists’ psychosocial orientation and practice area appear to influence the likelihood of patient disclosure of suicide plans. Almost half of the respondents had a person disclose a suicide plan at some point in their career.
Key Practice Points:
• Suicide prevention is physiotherapists’ ‘business.’
• All physiotherapists should be competent in the provision of crisis support.
• Physiotherapists working in pain management would benefit from advanced crisis support training.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages | 472 |
| Number of pages | 1 |
| Publication status | Published - 2023 |
| Event | IGNITE Physiotherapy Conference 2023: Australian Physiotherapy Association - Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, Brisbane, Australia Duration: 04 Oct 2023 → 07 Oct 2023 https://web.archive.org/web/20240301020900/https://ignite2023.physio/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Ignite2023_Abstract_book_V5.pdf (Abstract book on Wayback Machine) |
Conference
| Conference | IGNITE Physiotherapy Conference 2023 |
|---|---|
| Country/Territory | Australia |
| City | Brisbane |
| Period | 04/10/23 → 07/10/23 |
| Internet address |
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