Expert physiotherapists' clinical decision-making in acute care. Part two

The evaluation of patients' functional outcome and mobility status is of critical importance to all physiotherapists, including those practising in acute care. However, the difficulty in attributing aspects of improvement to physiotherapy intervention has made outcome measurement a complex process. Furthermore, a general literature search failed to identify an immediately appropriate evaluative outcome measure to guide physiotherapists' reasoning or monitor patients' in the acute care setting. Without adequate instruments to measure intervention efficacy for clinical and research purposes, it is difficult to implement evidence-based practice. Part two of this article series presents findings on outcome measurement derived from the focused ethnography in-depth interview methodology described in part one. Recommendations to improve physiotherapists' functional outcome evaluation in acute care are discussed. The use of individualized/patient-specific measures of either items of impairment or activity limitation are suggested, as scored from the physiotherapists' perspective.