Research productivity of Indian physiotherapists - a review of MEDLINE

Scientific output analysis of the current research productivity of physiotherapists will allow the construction of baseline indicators in this area of knowledge and professional practice. This study aims to analyse the research productivity of Indian physiotherapists in terms of quantity and examines the trends of all types of studies published. MEDLINE database was searched to identify researches published by Indian physiotherapists during the period between January 2000 and May 2014. There is an overall upward trend in the output of Indian researchers in physiotherapy and a substantial increase is seen in the last 5 years. To advance the growth of physiotherapy, it is essential to demonstrate that physiotherapy interventions are of high quality and cost-effective. However, studies evaluating the physiotherapy treatment regime and healthcare cost of rehabilitation are lacking. Hence, Indian physiotherapists are encouraged to conduct primary researches focusing on developing cost-effective management strategies relevant to Indian context.