Exploring the Impact of Extended Standing on Fatigue Levels in Physiotherapy Interns
Description
Fatigue is commonly characterized as an extreme state of being tired and feeling exhausted. There are two types of fatigue: Mental which leads to reduced concentration and Physical which leads to decreased in performance. One of the major occupational risk factors that lead to fatigue is prolonged standing. Physiotherapy professionals are also affected by this issue as they have to stand prolong time in their duty hours. The Questionnaire was developed in three phases. In first phase we identify the domain of the questionnaire by doing intense literature survey. Then items of the questionnaire were identified from the domain by taking interview from the participants and taking expert opinion. Then we send the questionnaire through Delphi methods to 9 experts for content validation of questionnaire. All the experts are from physiotherapy profession and currently working as an assistant and associate professor in different universities from India. Then the questionnaire was distributed via online platforms. The study surveyed 243 physiotherapy interns, with 51.03% male and 48.97% female participants, aged around 22.95 on average. Over 80% reported physical and emotional fatigue, with similar percentages experiencing fatigue in various body areas after prolonged standing. More than 50% noted fatigue impacting concentration, technique performance, documentation, learning, and overall performance, with over 70% feeling the need for frequent breaks to manage fatigue. Our study concludes that fatigue due to prolong standing is very common in physiotherapy interns where (80%) interns complaining about physical fatigue always. More than (70%) of the population expressed the necessity of taking breaks to deal with fatigue.