Physical Therapy in the Intensive Care Unit: A Comparative Study of Three Asian Countries

This descriptive-comparative study has explored and presented an overview of the extent of PT practice in the ICU in JP, PH, and TW. Specifically, the socio-demographic and ICU-related profiles of physical therapists (PTs) in Japan (JP), Philippines (PH), and Taiwan (TW) were presented, with the inclusion of the common PT interventions and challenges encountered in delivering PT services in the ICU in the said countries.Included in the socio-demographic variables are the respondents' sex, age, highest educational attainment, PT work experience, and hospital affiliation. As to the ICU-related variables, it includes the respondents' ICU work experience, the types of ICU where respondents primarily work, the hiring department they belong to, the status of ICU posting, the duration of ICU posting, the daily ICU stay of the respondents, their engagement in on-call ICU PT services, the usual source of ICU patient referral, the number of daily ICU patients, the ratio of PT to ICU patients, and the level of participation in ICU-related PT training. Furthermore, different interventions that are commonly implemented and challenges that are commonly encountered in ICU PT service delivery in Japan, Philippines, and Taiwan were also investigated.

Inclusion Criteria:Physical therapists who:are currently residing or working in Japan, Philippines, and Taiwan;are working, or have worked in an ICU in JP, PH, or TW, and have provided PT services to critically ill patients regardless of age, sex, nationality/race, and years of work experience (in general);have an active e-mail address; andprovided informed consentExclusion Criteria:Physical therapists who are:newly hired (or rotated) PTs with ICU duty but have not yet handled any ICU patient; andlicensed PTs from JP, PH, and TW but are based and/or are working abroad.