Development and validation of a questionnaire to find usage patterns and beliefs about therapeutic ultrasound among physiotherapists in Delhi NCR

Background: Musculoskeletal injuries are commonly faced problems. With technological advancement and sedentary lifestyle, its prevalence is increasing every day. Till a few years ago pharmacotherapy was the mainstay of treatment, but as awareness is increasing; Physiotherapy is emerging as one of the effective non-pharmacological treatment approaches. Physiotherapy is an application of manual therapy and electrotherapy for the correction of pain and bodily dysfunctions. Therapeutic ultrasound is a commonly used electrical modality in physiotherapy setups. Evidence suggests a strong beneficial effect of it on musculoskeletal pains and injuries. The Indian Physiotherapy practice has its own modification as per cultural and social influence. There are various setup models like private clinics, hospital setups, institution-based OPD, etc. As they work in different clinical setups, the beliefs about the usage of ultrasound also vary among them. So, the current study aims to develop a questionnaire to find usage patterns and beliefs about therapeutic ultrasound and to establish the content validity of the same.
Results: The questionnaire was developed through an extensive literature search done by different search engines with therapeutic ultrasound, parameters, and Physiotherapists as the keywords used. The final draft of the questionnaire once formed was assessed for content validity. Lawshe’s method of content validity was used in which the questionnaire was sent to 5 panelists included in the study based on inclusion criteria and their opinion on each item was taken. A content validity ratio was calculated as 0.72. Indicating a moderate content validity of the questionnaire formulated.
Conclusion: Using Lawshe’s method, a questionnaire with two sections on usage patterns and beliefs about therapeutic ultrasound in physiotherapists of Delhi/NCR was formulated with moderate content validity. Future work will determine the scoring method for using this tool, interrater reliability, and predictive validity to facilitate optimal utilization of such questionnaire in clinical and academic practice.