Siba Noamesi¹,

Jonathan Quartey²

¹ Department of Physiotherapy, Ridge Regional Hospital, Accra, Ghana

²Department of Physiotherapy, School of Allied Health Sciences, College of Health Sciences, University of Ghana, Accra

Correspondence:

Siba Noamesi

Department of Physiotherapy

Ridge Regional Hospital,

Accra, Ghana

Telephone: +233208409713

E-mail: nana.noamesi@yahoo.com

PURPOSE

This study aimed at establishing the knowledge and perception that exists about the role of physiotherapy in the game of hockey and management of injuries.

The objectives of the study were to determine perception and knowledge about injuries amenable to physiotherapy, modalities and equipment used in treatment.

RELEVANCE

Various literature support that physiotherapy plays an important role in the prevention and management of sports injuries. It has been found that the patronage of physiotherapy services in hockey and even the most popular team sport in Ghana, football is low. Establishing the factors affecting the use of physiotherapy services in sports will hopefully contribute to increasing the patronage of physiotherapy and reduce the negative factors.

PARTICIPANTS

Fifty male and female field hockey players as well as 15 technical staff of 12 teams registered with the Greater Accra Hockey Association (GAHA) took part in the study.

METHODS

Convenience sampling was used to recruit the participants and questionnaires distributed to them during training and match days at the National Hockey Pitch, Accra. Follow-ups were done weekly for four weeks on similar days to retrieve completed questionnaires.

ANALYSIS Data obtained was analysed using SPSS version 20.0. Bar charts, tables and percentages were used to represent data collected. Mann Whitney test was used for comparisons and Spearman correlation was used to test for associations.

RESULTS

Majority of the participants identified ice (93.8%) and exercises (90.7%) as modalities used by physiotherapists. Joint (89%) and muscle pain (88%) as well as back pain (83%) were the injuries reported to be amenable to physiotherapy.

Majority of the participants believed that a doctor’s referral is needed before seeing a physiotherapist. There was no significant association between knowledge, perception and number of years’ experience for both players and technical staff.

CONCLUSION

Participants were found to have a good knowledge about the equipment, modalities and conditions amenable to physiotherapy. They also had a good perception of the role of physiotherapy in sports. However hockey players had greater knowledge compared to technical staff. Generally there were no physiotherapists attached to most of the hockey teams.

IMPLICATIONS

Other factors together with knowledge and perception existing on the role of physiotherapy in sports may contribute to the low patronage of physiotherapy services in Ghanaian sports. There is a need to increase awareness and education of sports personnel on the role of physiotherapy to enhance injury prevention and encourage appropriate early treatment after injuries.

Keywords: Hockey, physiotherapy, knowledge, perception

ETHICAL ISSUES

Ethical approval was sought and obtained from the Ethics and Protocol Review Committee, School of Allied Health Sciences, University of Ghana.

FUNDING SOURCE: none