PHYSICAL THERAPIST ASSISTANTS PERCEPTIONS OF THE DOCUMENTED ROLES OF THE PHYSICAL THERAPIST ASSISTANT

Background and Purpose. This study investigated physical therapist ass istants' (PTAs) perceptions of the documented roles of PTAs and compar ed those perceptions with those of physical therapists from a previous study. Subjects and Methods. A questionnaire that described 79 physic al therapy activities was distributed to a sample (n = 400) of PTAs de rived from the American Physical Therapy Association membership. The r esponse rate was 56% (n = 225). Respondents indicated whether each act ivity was included in the documentation describing PTA roles. Discrimi nant analyses were used to determine whether demographic factors predi cted the pattern of responses. In addition, meta-analytic techniques w ere used to determine whether PTA responses were different from those of physical therapists gathered previously. Results. The greatest agre ement of PTA opinions with published occurred for treatment implementa tion activities, and the lowest level of agreement occurred for items designated as administrative activities. Responses of PTAs were differ ent from those of physical therapists on 21 of the 79 activities. The greatest number of these differences occurred for evaluative functions (n = 9). Physical therapist assistants' perceptions of documented PTA roles were generally less consistent with published guidelines than w ere those of physical therapists. Conclusions and Discussion. Physical therapist assistants' perception of the roles of the PTA were, for so me activities, not consistent with written guidelines. Using the data provided in this study, discussions to revise the documentation of the scope of PTA practice may focus on those activities for which disagre ement between PTAs and physical therapists exists and for which opinio ns differ markedly from published guidelines.