A Review of the Literature on Evidence-Based Practice in Physical Therapy

The term “evidence-based practice” (EBP) has become ubiquitous in physical therapy practice. Since the mid 1990s, over 70 articles have been published in the physical therapy literature relating to EBP. Many physical therapists agree with the notion that scientific evidence should be utilized to guide practice decisions. However, for physical therapy clinicians, there are numerous barriers to EBP. Also, there appears to be a disconnect between academia and clinical practice in terms of the utilization of research evidence to inform clinical decision making. The purpose of this review of the literature is to begin to elucidate and address some of the many issues that the physical therapy profession faces with respect to evidence-based practice by providing a comprehensive synthesis and analysis of the EBP literature in Physical Therapy (PT).