EFFECT OF A ONE-DAY mhGAP TRAINING ON THE KNOWLEDGE AND PERCEPTION OF PHYSIOTHERAPISTS TOWARDS CHILD AND ADOLESCENT MENTAL HEALTH DISORDERS

Abstract

There is a dearth of published work on Physiotherapist knowledge and perception towards mental health disorders seen in children and adolescents. This research work objectives were to determine the knowledge and the perception of Physiotherapists working with the University College Hospital, Ibadan in the recognition, assessment and management of children with mental disorders and to determine the effect of a one-day training on their knowledge and perception with regards to mental health disorders seen in children and adolescents. This was an interventional study. 86 Physiotherapists were recruited into the study, (46 and 42 in the intervention and control groups respectively). The two groups were interviewed at baseline and endline. Pre-training, all participants were administered a socio-demographic questionnaire and the perception and knowledge questionnaire. The intervention group consists of (42) Physiotherapists working with the University College Hospital, Ibadan (UCH) while the control group were recruited from Physiotherapists working with the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, Ile-ife (OAUTHC) and Adeoyo State Hospital, Ibadan. The intervention group received a one-day training on child and adolescent mental health and were accessed with the perception and knowledge questionnaire immediately after the training. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to compare pretest response on perception and practice to child and adolescent health in the intervention group with the pretest response in the control group. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to compare the pre and post knowledge mean score in the intervention group with the control group, while the paired t test was used to compare baseline and post intervention practice and perception score in theintervention group. Level of significance was set at 0.05; 95% confidence interval. All data analyses were by the SPSS (19). Results show that the mean age of the respondents was 33.02+7.154 years, 44 (51.2%) were females, 50 (58.1%) married, and 49 (57.1%) were basic grade Physiotherapists. Post-intervention, there were significant changes in quite a number of the responses. There was also a significant difference in the mean post knowledge score between the intervention group and control group with regards to symptoms of depression (p<0.013), ADHD (p=0.008) and psychosis (p=0.001). In conclusion, knowledge and perception of Physiotherapists about mental health disorders seen in children and adolescents can be improved upon by a one-day health education training intervention. It is therefore recommended that such structured training intervention should be carried out regularly to reinforce and validates their knowledge and perceptions