UV therapy: Physiotherapists' perception of therapeutic efficacy and barriers to usage

Abstract

This study was conducted to assess the perception of efficacy of ultraviolet (UV) light therapy and barriers to its use among physiotherapists. A purpose-designed questionnaire containing 29 items, seeking information on perception of efficacy of UV therapy and perceived barriers to its use, was administered to physiotherapists in Northwestern Nigeria. With a response rate of 97%, it was demonstrated that almost 70% of the respondents perceived UV therapy to be effective and only 59.3% of them had ever used UV therapy for treatment purposes. In general, the major barrier to the use of the modality was nonavailability of UV therapy machine (66.1%) followed by availability of a substitute treatment modality (13.5%). Lack of referral of patients with indications for possible use of UV therapy accounted for 10.2%. The study also found significant association between the use of UV therapy by the respondents and the perception of its therapeutic efficacy (p < 0.05), and perception of the modality as being abandoned by physiotherapists (p < 0.05). It was concluded that despite the low level of use of UV therapy mainly due to its unavailability, physiotherapists in Northwestern Nigeria perceived the modality as being efficacious.

Keywords

• barriers
• efficacy
• perception
• UV therapy