
@article{ref1,
title="Physiotherapists often encounter clients disclosing suicidal thoughts and behaviors: a cross-sectional survey of Australian physiotherapists",
journal="Physiotherapy theory and practice",
year="2024",
author="McGrath, Ryan L. and Parnell, Tracey and Shephard, Sophie and Verdon, Sarah and Pope, Rodney",
volume="ePub",
number="ePub",
pages="ePub-ePub",
abstract="BACKGROUND: All health professionals have a role in suicide prevention, although little is known about physiotherapists' contact with clients experiencing suicidal thoughts and behaviors. <br><br>OBJECTIVE: The aims of this study were to investigate physiotherapists' self-reported frequency of contact with clients who disclose suicidal thoughts and behaviors and to identify potential factors associated with frequency of contact. <br><br>METHODS: Three-hundred and thirty-eight Australian physiotherapists were surveyed using an online questionnaire, with an estimated response rate of 6.1%. Data were analyzed using descriptive analysis and logistic regression. <br><br>RESULTS: Over half the respondents (52.1%) reported encountering clients at least once a year who disclosed suicidal thoughts, and nearly half (49.4%) reported having received at least one disclosure of a suicide plan at some point in their career. Among those working in the public sector, 67.5% of respondents reported having received a disclosure of a suicide plan, and almost all physiotherapists working in pain management reported having received such a disclosure (93.8%). The binary logistic regression model explained approximately 39.7% of the variance in whether a physiotherapist had a client disclose a plan for suicide at some point in their career or not. <br><br>CONCLUSION: The results highlight that all physiotherapists should receive training in suicide prevention.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0959-3985",
doi="10.1080/09593985.2024.2327516",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09593985.2024.2327516"
}