Clinicians’ knowledge and attitude towards early mobilization in intensive care units in Ethiopian tertiary hospitals: A multi-centre study

Objectives: To assess clinicians' knowledge, attitude and associated factors towards patients' early mobilization in intensive care units in the tertiary hospitals in Northwest Ethiopia. Methods: A multi-centre, cross-sectional study was conducted at the tertiary hospitals in Northwest Ethiopia from April to June, 2022. Data were collected by using self-administered, structured questionnaire; ordinal logistic regression analysis was performed and associations were described in adjusted odds ratios. Results: A total of 304 clinicians were included (response rate of 89.7%). The proportions of poor, fair and good knowledge towards early mobilization in intensive care unit among clinicians were 16.8%, 57.9% and 25.3%, respectively; while that of negative, fair and positive attitude were 16.4%, 60.2% and 23.4%, respectively. Factors associated with better knowledge were being a physiotherapist (adjusted odds ratio = 2.9, confidence interval = 1.2-6.7), having a total work experience >5 years (adjusted odds ratio = 4.6, confidence interval = 1.7-12.1), having an intensive care unit work experience >5 years (adjusted odds ratio = 2.8, confidence interval = 1.1-6.8), previous in-service training (adjusted odds ratio = 1.8, confidence interval = 1.1-3.0) and reading guidelines (adjusted odds ratio = 1.9, confidence interval = 1.1-3.2). Better attitude was associated with in-service training (adjusted odds ratio = 1.9, confidence interval = 1.2-3.1), attending early mobilization courses (adjusted odds ratio = 1.8, confidence interval = 1.1-3.0), presence of mobilization advocators (adjusted odds ratio = 1.7, confidence interval = 1.0-2.8), good knowledge (adjusted odds ratio = 2.6, confidence interval = 1.2-5.8) and fair knowledge (adjusted odds ratio = 2.5, confidence interval = 1.3-4.8). Conclusion: Most of the clinicians had demonstrated fair knowledge and attitude towards early mobilization in intensive care unit. However, there were significant proportion of clinicians who had poor knowledge and negative attitude. We recommended active engagement of physiotherapists and experienced clinicians in intensive care units. Clinicians need to have self-learning habits and attend regular training/courses related to early mobilization in intensive care unit.