Year: 2026 | Month: January-March | Volume: 11 | Issue: 1 | Pages: 1-16
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52403/ijshr.20260101
Practice Behavior of Physical Therapists of Haryana Regarding Measurement of Blood Pressure
Sheetal1, Gitanjali Sikka2, Vikram Singh Yadav3, Jaspreet Kaur4, Sushma5, Hemlata6
1MPT-Cardiopulmonary, College of Physiotherapy, Pt. B.D. Sharma University of Health Sciences, Rohtak, Haryana, India,
2Associate Professor, College of Physiotherapy, Pt. B.D. Sharma University of Health Sciences, Rohtak, Haryana, India.
3Associate Professor, College of Physiotherapy, Pt. B.D. Sharma University of Health Sciences, Rohtak, Haryana, India
4MPT-Cardiopulmonary, College of Physiotherapy, Pt. B.D. Sharma University of Health Sciences, Rohtak, Haryana, India,
5MPT-Cardiopulmonary, College of Physiotherapy, Pt. B.D. Sharma University of Health Sciences, Rohtak, Haryana, India,
6MPT-Cardiopulmonary, College of Physiotherapy, Pt. B.D. Sharma University of Health Sciences, Rohtak, Haryana, India,
Corresponding Author: Sheetal
ABSTRACT
Blood pressure (BP) is a fundamental component of vital signs and physiotherapists (PTs) should regularly check patient’s blood pressure before or after exercise, as abnormal rise in BP during exercise can lead to adverse cardiac events. Therefore, the present study aims to assess the attitude, practice behaviors and knowledge of PTs practicing in Haryana regarding BP measurement. This cross- sectional study included 354 registered physical therapists from Haryana with academic grade of at least bachelor’s degree in physical therapy. A 28-items online questionnaire-survey tool to assess outpatient physical therapists’ attitudes and behaviors towards BP measurement was used to obtain required data and the questionnaire was distributed through google forms. The mean age of participants was 24.87±2.08years, with 68.9% females and most (78.5%) were working in urban area. 79.7% (282) and 69.5% (246) felt it important to measure BP before and after physical therapy treatment, respectively, but only 27.2% (96) and 22.3% (79) reported actually performing BP measurement prior to and after treatment. Knowledge of Pre-HTN and HTN criteria was correctly reported by only 36.1% (128) and 32.2% (114), respectively. Significant positive but weak correlation was found between attitude and practice behavior (r=0.148) and moderate correlation between attitude and knowledge (r=0.319). The findings showed that despite favorable attitude towards BP measurement, practice behavior of PTs did not consistently align with their attitude and lack of knowledge was observed in physical therapists. Hence, initiatives must be taken to address the misinformed attitude and practice behavior among PTs and Orientation programs should be conducted to address this gap among PTs regarding BP measurement.
Keywords: blood pressure, screening, physical therapists, practice behavior