US physical therapist practice patterns evaluating concussion and clinical practice guideline adherence

Objectives: To assess the influence of contemporary physical therapy clinical practice guidelines (CPG) on concussion evaluation practice patterns and barriers/facilitators for CPG adherence.Design: Electronic cross-sectional survey.Setting: Online survey platform.Participants: US licensed physical therapists that manage concussion. Main outcome measures: 1) practice patterns 2) knowledge/use of CPG 3) barriers/facilitations to CPG adherence.Results: Knowledge/use of CPG categories significantly predicted the model (x2(1) = 10.966, p < .001) of total vignette scores/practice patterns with a statistically significant effect. A Kruskal-Wallis test indi-cated significant differences in total vignette score means based on knowledge/use between "not aware of the concussion CPG" and "integrated concussion CPG into practice" groups (p < .001, ES = .21). Knowledge/use of the CPG predicted the perceived barriers/facilitators model for three questions: in-vestment in specialized concussion training (x2(1) = 39.52, p < .001), necessary equipment to complete concussion evaluation (x2(1) =16.01, p < .001), and confidence around concussion evaluation knowledge (x2(1) = 27.46, p < .001) with a significant effect.Conclusion: The results of this study provide support for guiding documents like the CPG to positively influence concussion practice patterns and insight into facilitators for guideline adherence. (c) 2022 Published by Elsevier Ltd.