Corrigendum: Quality of life and quality of education among physiotherapy students in Europe.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fmed.2024.1344028.].

Attitudes and Beliefs of Physical Therapists and Physical Therapist Students Towards Working with Older Adults: A Systematic Review.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to systematically review physical therapists' and physical therapist students' attitudes towards working with older adults. METHODS: CINAHL, EMBASE, ERIC, MEDLINE, Scopus, PsycINFO, and SocIndex databases were searched in duplicate (from inception to March 2023). Studies that assessed knowledge on aging, intention to work with older adults or attitudes towards older adults for physical therapist students and/or clinicians, and that were written in English, Finnish, Spanish, or Swedish were included. Grey literature, qualitative studies, or articles of people with a specific diagnosis (eg, dementia) were excluded. All articles were reviewed by 2 authors independently and consensus was required for inclusion. Data extraction was completed using a standardized data extraction sheet. RESULTS: Of 2755 articles screened, 34 met the inclusion criteria. Twenty-five studies recruited only physical therapist students, 6 recruited only physical therapist clinicians, and 3 involved mixed samples of both. Ten intervention studies were included, all of which recruited physical therapist students. Overall, physical therapist students were observed to have predominantly positive attitudes towards older adults, while clinicians had neutral to weak positive attitudes towards older adults. Both physical therapist students and clinicians were observed to have low knowledge on aging and low intentions to work with older adults. Results from intervention studies suggest that education combined with clinical experience with older adults improves attitudes towards older adults. CONCLUSIONS: A discrepancy is observed in physical therapists in that although attitudes towards older adults are positive, a lack of knowledge on aging and a disinterest in working with older adults exists. Intervention studies suggest that clinical experience may improve attitudes towards older adults in physical therapist students. IMPACT: Predominantly positive attitudes towards older adults are reported by physical therapist students, while for clinicians mixed results are observed. Education coupled with clinical experiences appear to be effective interventions to improve attitudes towards older adults, but such research has only been explored in student samples.

Quality of life and quality of education among physiotherapy students in Europe.

Background: The study of physiotherapy is challenging and can affect the students' well-being and quality of life. The aim of this study was to describe and compare factors that could affect well-being among students across Europe. Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study using an online questionnaire survey, students of bachelor's physiotherapy programs from 23 European faculties, from 8 countries, were interviewed on mental health and stress burden, sleep quality, dietary habits, and physical activity. Results: Although 75% of students rated their quality of life positively and 47% were satisfied with their mental health, 65% showed higher levels of stress and 51% described impaired sleep quality. The minimum physical activity of 150 min weekly was described by 79% of students, within which 67% engaged in strengthening twice a week. Students with a higher stress load/worse psychological health also showed worse sleep quality and lower amount of physical activity, women were significantly worse off. In terms of physical activity and sleep quality, students from Finland and Kosovo achieved the best results, while students from Italy, Greece, and Portugal achieved the worst. Students from Italy indicated the greatest dissatisfaction with the organisation of the study system and communication with teachers, while in Kosovo students rated the communication and study organisation the highest. All students had a problem with adhering to nutritional habits. Students from Italy and Spain, with the lowest body mass indexes and weight averages, were closest to the nutrition recommendations. Conclusion: We demonstrated that physiotherapy students are burdened with stress, suffer from sleep disorders, and do not follow the recommendations regarding nutrition nor physical activity. There are significant differences between universities and countries in some aspects.

Improving the Evidence-Based Practice Skills of Entry-Level Physiotherapy Students through Educational Interventions: A Scoping Review of Literature.

Evidence-based practice (EBP) is an essential approach in healthcare, attracting growing interest among both practitioners and researchers. This scoping review aims to (1) systematically investigate the effectiveness of pedagogical methods used to facilitate learning of the EBP approach, and (2) explore the perceptions, experiences, and issues related to these learning methods. The overarching purpose is to identify the state of the art in pedagogical methods, instruments, influences, and barriers in teaching and learning EBP within entry-level physiotherapy education programs. This scoping review was conducted following PRISMA guidelines, with PubMed and Eric databases being searched for peer-reviewed original research articles using a combination of keywords. Excluding non-pertinent articles from the initial 465 identified, 12 were eligible for final inclusion (5 quantitative, 3 qualitative, and 4 mixed-methodology studies). A range of pedagogical methods and instruments for teaching EBP in physiotherapy education were detected, all of which having the capability to positively affect physiotherapy outcomes. Findings from this study support the significant influence that EBP exerts on the improving of the quality of teaching, together with the necessities that the involvement of EBP in physiotherapy education programs provide. Several barriers were identified, which should be taken into consideration when designing population-specific EBP strategies tailored to these particular needs.

A Qualitative Study of Nursing Students' Experiences in Fall Prevention for Older Home Care Clients.

The aim of this study was to describe the experiences of nursing students in fall prevention during clinical practice in the context of older home care clients. This was a qualitative focus group study of nursing students (n = 9) who had completed clinical practice in older clients' home care. The data were analysed using inductive content analysis. The nursing students described their experiences regarding falls and fall prevention in older clients' home care from two perspectives: evaluation of falls at older people's homes and fall prevention during home visits. Systematic evaluation of falls was based on physical examination and is the basis of fall prevention. However, evaluation of nutrition and adverse drug effects seemed to be ignored. In addition, fall prevention during home visits included concrete fall prevention in authentic client situations, confidential relationships with older clients, and evidence-based knowledge. From the perspective of fall prevention, there was a lack of comprehensive evaluation and understanding of the meaning of psychological factors, such as fear of falling. In order to be able to prevent falls in the older client population, students need more guidance regarding a comprehensive approach based on evaluation of falls. In addition, there is a need for continuous collaboration between education and home care services to develop educational approaches that interlink knowledge and skills in fall prevention.

Physical activity, fitness, and all-cause mortality: An 18-year follow-up among old people.

BACKGROUND: Little is known about change in physical activity (PA) and its relationship to all-cause mortality among old people. There is even less information about the association between PA, fitness, and all-cause mortality among people aged 80 years and above. The objective is to investigate persistence and change in PA over 5 years as a predictor of all-cause mortality, and fitness as a mediator of this association, among people aged 80 and 85 years at the beginning of an 18-year mortality follow-up period. METHODS: Using Evergreen Project data (started in 1989), 4 study groups were formed according to self-reported changes in PA level, over a 5-year period (starting in 1989-1990 and ending in 1994-1995): remained active (RA, control group), changed to inactive (CI), remained inactive (RI), and changed to active (CA). Mortality was followed up over the 18-year period (1994-2012). Cox models with different covariates such as age, sex, use of alcohol, smoking, chronic diseases, and a 10 m walking test were used to analyze the association between change in PA level and mortality. RESULTS: Compared to RA, those who decreased their PA level (CI) between baseline and follow-up had higher all-cause mortality (hazard ratio (HR = 2.09; 95%CI: 1.63-2.69) when adjusted for age, gender, and chronic diseases. RI showed the highest all-cause mortality (HR = 2.16; 95%CI: 1.59-2.93). In CA, when compared against RA, the risk of all-cause mortality was not statistically significant (HR = 1.51; 95%CI: 0.95-2.38). In comparison with RA, when walking speed over 10 m was added as a covariate, all-cause mortality risk was almost statistically significant only in CI (HR = 1.37; 95%CI: 1.00-1.87). CONCLUSION: Persistence and change in PA level was associated with mortality. This association was largely explained by fitness status. Randomized controlled studies are needed to test whether maintaining or increasing PA level could lengthen the life of old people.

Development of an integrative practice placement model for students in health care.

VireTori, the interprofessional Empowerment Market, is both an easily accessible health service point for citizens and a provider of placements for students. This study describes undergraduate health care students' experiences of learning at VireTori, and explores how the integrative pedagogy model was executed during student placements. The integrative pedagogy model was developed for the educational framework of the placement. The participants of the study were 42 undergraduate students. The data were collected in 2010 through six focus-group interviews and background questionnaires, and were analysed using inductive content analysis. The results were categorised into personal, collaborative and organisational learning contexts and reported as the experiences of happy and unhappy students. Third-year students with a five-week or longer placement had more positive experiences than the fourth-year students with a one-week placement. There were great differences between the experiences of happy and unhappy students concerning professional roles, work orientations and scopes of action, and these were not entirely connected with the length of placement. Health care students can gain expertise through a practice placement in which the principles of integrative pedagogy have been adopted. Critique concerning the model and VireTori framework will be presented.

Independent and combined association of physical activity and cardiac disease on mortality risk in the very old.

OBJECTIVE: This study investigated physical activity as a predictor of all-cause mortality among 75- and 80-year-old people with and without chronic cardiac disease over a 10-year follow-up period. METHOD: Using the Evergreen Project data, four study groups were formed according to the respondent's self-reported level of physical activity as well as chronic cardiac diseases: active without cardiac disease (control group = ANCD), active with cardiac disease (ACD), sedentary without cardiac disease (SNCD), and sedentary with cardiac disease (SCD). RESULTS: In the analyses, the ACD (HR 1.69, 95% CI 1.02-2.81) and the SNCD (1.76, 1.14-2.73) groups had almost one and a half times greater risk of dying than the control group, while the SCD group had almost three times (2.77, 1.80-4.26) greater risk of dying than the control group. DISCUSSION: Among the older people with cardiac disease, a physically active lifestyle was associated with lower mortality.

Physical activity and mortality of 75-year-old people in three Nordic localities: a five-year follow-up.

The purpose of this 5-year follow-up study was to investigate the relationship between physical activity and mortality in persons aged 75 in three Nordic localities. The study is part of the common NOrdic Research project on Ageing (NORA). The samples consisted of 221 men and 259 women in Glostrup, Denmark, 159 men and 209 women in Göteborg, Sweden, and 119 men and 236 women in Jyväskylä, Finland. Physical activity was measured with a self-report questionnaire, from which a dichotomous explanatory variable was created for the subsequent analysis. Covariates examined in this study were smoking, use of alcohol and the presence of cardiovascular diseases. Baseline measurements were conducted in Glostrup and Jyväskylä in 1989, and a year later in Göteborg. Mortality data was collected from the mortality registry in each country. The follow-up period was 5 years. Fisher's exact test, Cox regression and Kaplan-Meier survival analysis were used in the statistical analysis of the data. The results showed that when physical activity alone was considered, inactivity was associated with an increased mortality risk in all groups except for the men in Jyväskylä. Of the covariates, only smoking and cardiovascular diseases were found to be associated with increased mortality risk and only among the women in Göteborg and Jyväskylä, respectively. When the effect of physical activity on mortality was analyzed together with the covariates, the relationship between physical inactivity and increased mortality risk remained significant in all groups except for the men in Jyväskylä. In addition to this, smoking remained a significant predictor of mortality for women in Göteborg, and the effect of cardiovascular diseases for women in Jyväskylä was nearly significant. The results showed that being physically active predicted survival for persons aged 75 during the follow-up period in all three localities.