Characterization and critical appraisal of physiotherapy intervention research in Nigeria: a systematic review
Abstract Objectives Clinical research is the bedrock of clinical innovation, education and practice. We characterized and critically appraised physiotherapy clinical research to avoid implementing misleading research findings into practice and to task the Nigerian physiotherapy societies on responsi...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2024-01-01
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| Series: | BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12891-023-06986-7 |
| _version_ | 1797363770423508992 |
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| author | Martins Nweke Emeriewen Ejiroghene Henrietta O. Fawole Nombeko Mshunqane |
| author_facet | Martins Nweke Emeriewen Ejiroghene Henrietta O. Fawole Nombeko Mshunqane |
| author_sort | Martins Nweke |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Objectives Clinical research is the bedrock of clinical innovation, education and practice. We characterized and critically appraised physiotherapy clinical research to avoid implementing misleading research findings into practice and to task the Nigerian physiotherapy societies on responsible conduct of clinical research. Methods This is a systematic review of articles published in English between 2009 and 2023. We started with 2009 because at least few Nigerian Physiotherapy school had commenced postgraduate (research) training by then. We searched Pubmed, Medline, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Academic Search Complete, PsycINFO and African Journal Online, and reference lists of relevant articles. We Data were selected and extracted according to predesigned eligibility criteria and using a standardized data extraction table. Where appropriate, the Pedro and Cochrane ROBINS1 were used to examine the risk of bias. Results A total of 76 Nigerian studies were included in this study. The mean age of the study participants was 46.7 ± 8.6 years. Approximately, 45% of the participants were males. Of the clinical experiments, the randomized controlled trial (RCT) was the most common design (87.5%). Musculoskeletal conditions (39.3%) were the most studied disorder. Approximately 86% of the RCT had studies possessed fair to good quality. Interventions constituted exercise therapy (76.3%), manual therapy (8.5%) and electrotherapy (8.5%). More than half (67.8%) of the studies recorded medium to large effect sizes. A fair proportion (48.2%) of the studies had a confounding-by-indication bias. Approximately 43% of the clinical experiments were underpowered, and a few studies conducted normality tests (10.9%) and intention-to-treat analysis (37.5%). Conclusions RCT is the most frequent clinical experiment, with majority of them possessing fair to good quality. The most important flaws include improper computation of sample size, statistical analysis, absent intention-to-treat approach, among others. The magnitude of effects of Physiotherapy interventions varies from nil effect to large effect. Musculoskeletal condition is the most prevalent disorder and exercise is the most important intervention in Nigerian physiotherapy practice. Trial registration We registered the protocol with PROSPERO. The registration number: CRD42021228514. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T16:25:47Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e51df751d8a94d1ca0ad960fc436cc41 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1471-2474 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T16:25:47Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders |
| spelling | doaj.art-e51df751d8a94d1ca0ad960fc436cc412024-01-07T12:04:17ZengBMCBMC Musculoskeletal Disorders1471-24742024-01-0125111310.1186/s12891-023-06986-7Characterization and critical appraisal of physiotherapy intervention research in Nigeria: a systematic reviewMartins Nweke0Emeriewen Ejiroghene1Henrietta O. Fawole2Nombeko Mshunqane3Department of Physiotherapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of PretoriaDepartment of Physiotherapy, School of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Medical Sciences, University of BeninDepartment of Physiotherapy, School of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Medical Sciences, University of BeninDepartment of Physiotherapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of PretoriaAbstract Objectives Clinical research is the bedrock of clinical innovation, education and practice. We characterized and critically appraised physiotherapy clinical research to avoid implementing misleading research findings into practice and to task the Nigerian physiotherapy societies on responsible conduct of clinical research. Methods This is a systematic review of articles published in English between 2009 and 2023. We started with 2009 because at least few Nigerian Physiotherapy school had commenced postgraduate (research) training by then. We searched Pubmed, Medline, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Academic Search Complete, PsycINFO and African Journal Online, and reference lists of relevant articles. We Data were selected and extracted according to predesigned eligibility criteria and using a standardized data extraction table. Where appropriate, the Pedro and Cochrane ROBINS1 were used to examine the risk of bias. Results A total of 76 Nigerian studies were included in this study. The mean age of the study participants was 46.7 ± 8.6 years. Approximately, 45% of the participants were males. Of the clinical experiments, the randomized controlled trial (RCT) was the most common design (87.5%). Musculoskeletal conditions (39.3%) were the most studied disorder. Approximately 86% of the RCT had studies possessed fair to good quality. Interventions constituted exercise therapy (76.3%), manual therapy (8.5%) and electrotherapy (8.5%). More than half (67.8%) of the studies recorded medium to large effect sizes. A fair proportion (48.2%) of the studies had a confounding-by-indication bias. Approximately 43% of the clinical experiments were underpowered, and a few studies conducted normality tests (10.9%) and intention-to-treat analysis (37.5%). Conclusions RCT is the most frequent clinical experiment, with majority of them possessing fair to good quality. The most important flaws include improper computation of sample size, statistical analysis, absent intention-to-treat approach, among others. The magnitude of effects of Physiotherapy interventions varies from nil effect to large effect. Musculoskeletal condition is the most prevalent disorder and exercise is the most important intervention in Nigerian physiotherapy practice. Trial registration We registered the protocol with PROSPERO. The registration number: CRD42021228514.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12891-023-06986-7PhysiotherapyClinical researchCharacterizationAppraisalNigeria |
| spellingShingle | Martins Nweke Emeriewen Ejiroghene Henrietta O. Fawole Nombeko Mshunqane Characterization and critical appraisal of physiotherapy intervention research in Nigeria: a systematic review BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders Physiotherapy Clinical research Characterization Appraisal Nigeria |
| title | Characterization and critical appraisal of physiotherapy intervention research in Nigeria: a systematic review |
| title_full | Characterization and critical appraisal of physiotherapy intervention research in Nigeria: a systematic review |
| title_fullStr | Characterization and critical appraisal of physiotherapy intervention research in Nigeria: a systematic review |
| title_full_unstemmed | Characterization and critical appraisal of physiotherapy intervention research in Nigeria: a systematic review |
| title_short | Characterization and critical appraisal of physiotherapy intervention research in Nigeria: a systematic review |
| title_sort | characterization and critical appraisal of physiotherapy intervention research in nigeria a systematic review |
| topic | Physiotherapy Clinical research Characterization Appraisal Nigeria |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12891-023-06986-7 |
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