FOSTERING THE USE OF AN EVIDENCE-BASED APPROACH AND STANDARD

Abstract

Monitoring results is the final step that determines the impact of an evidencebased practice (EBP) decision. A variety of health outcomes can be expected to change following rehabilitation; therefore, outcome measures (OMs) are a major focus of EBP in rehabilitation. For instance, in patients with hand injuries, physiotherapy (PT) services focus on enabling patients to improve their functional use of the traumatized hand. Examining current practice of physiotherapists (PTs) in Saudi Arabia with respect to use of EBP and OMs can serve as a basis for understanding any identified gaps in knowledge before the full effect of translation and adoption of new patient self-reported outcomes (PROs) instruments can be seen in clinical practice. Therefore, this thesis was designed in two phases, incorporating two papers, to address EBP and PROs and their adoption in the evolving PT practice in Saudi. The first paper is a survey that aimed to determine the current self-reported attitudes, skills, and knowledge of PTs in Saudi Arabia toward EBP and outcome measures, including PROs. The second paper describes the process of crosscultural Arabic translation and adaptation of the Patient-Rated Wrist and Hand Evaluation (PRWHE) and reports estimates of the psychometrics properties of the translated measure. Finally, the thesis addresses overall areas of limitations and includes suggestions for future refinement and research in order to foster and facilitate EBP implementation in the cultural context of the evolving physiotherapy profession in the health systems of Saudi Arabia.