Background and Purpose: It is recommended that health care organizations develop a health system that facilitates record of standardized measurement data in clinical practice. This would allow measurement of patients’ perspectives, improve care delivery, increase transparency of outcomes and link clinicians’ performance to patient outcomes. It will also improve patient care and strengthen public health. The Guide to Physical Therapist Practice recommends the utilization of standardized test and measures, with emphasis on the use of outcome measures whose selection by therapist are informed by their psychometric properties and clinical utility. Outcome measures are assessments that measure change in patients functioning, performance or participation over time.

The main objective of this study was to determine the extent of usage of outcome measures for stroke rehabilitation, and determine the barriers influencing its usage among physiotherapists in Ghana.

Relevance: The use of standardized outcome measures is an aspect of good clinical practice. However, literature suggests an inconsistent use of outcome measures in stroke rehabilitation by physiotherapists. It is through outcome measurement that the impact of physiotherapy treatment in the management of stroke can be evident and demonstrated objectively.

Participants/Subjects: Licensed physiotherapist working in Ghana.

Methods: A descriptive cross- sectional survey was employed. A 35-item online questionnaire was sent to 120 physiotherapists through emails and whatsApp contact. Hardcopies was also sent to some physiotherapy departments selected for the study. A reminder was sent to them every week to prompt them to answer the questionnaire and sent via mail or whatsApp.

Analysis: The data collected was entered and analysed with SPSS (version 25). The participants’ characteristics, extent of use and barriers and facilitators were described as frequency and percentages. Cross tabulations and Chi-square test were used to establish the association between variables and the use of outcome measures.

Results: Out of the 105 respondents, 72.4% used at least one outcome measure in the rehabilitation of stroke patients. Time constraints and the need for extra work to apply outcome measures were the barriers to the use of outcome measures. Facilitators were; familiarity with outcome measure, ensuring balanced clinical assessment and provision of an insight into the patients’ function. The number of stroke patients seen weekly was statistically significant with use of outcome measures.

Conclusions: Although majority of physiotherapists used outcome measures for stroke rehabilitation, the frequency of use was not encouraging. Outcome measures should be conceptualized and adapted for use by physiotherapists across work settings.

Implications: The impact of intervention in stroke survivors cannot objectively be quantified. The effectiveness and efficiency of services provided at rehabilitation centres cannot be assessed. There is no standardized or developed outcome measure to suit the setting in a Ghanaian society.

Keywords: outcome measures, physiotherapy, stroke, rehabilitation, standardized, Ghana.

Funding Source and acknowledgement: The authors received no funding for this study. We acknowledge all Physiotherapists in Ghana and the Ghana Physiotherapy Association.

Ethics Approval: Given by Research Ethics Committee of University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS-REC A. 4 [307] 18-19).