Attitudes and Opinions of Evidence-based Practice among Hand Therapists: A Survey Study

The adoption of evidence-based practice (EBP) principles is advocated by many professional organizations. The purpose of this study was to assess the current attitudes and opinions of hand therapists toward EBP. A 35-item electronic survey was sent via e-mail to 2,997 hand therapists and 312 (10.4%) of eligible therapists responded. There was an overall strong endorsement of EBP among most respondents. Nearly all respondents believe that EBP plays a positive role in clinical practice, improves patient outcomes and clinical decision making, and that therapists should be familiar with EBP techniques to critically appraise clinical research studies. Respondents had a positive attitude toward EBP and the main barriers to EBP included: time limitations, limited journal access, and lack of evidence for treating specific diagnoses. Efforts to advance EBP in hand therapy should focus on reducing these barriers.