This letter to the editor aims to enlighten the readers of the Brazilian Journal of
Physical Therapy (BJPT) on the relevance and conceptual framework, practical
applications, current scenario, and advances of physical therapy in occupational health
and
ergonomics. Additionally, this letter presents challenges to be overcome and perspectives
for physical therapists as well as the scientific community.
We have witnessed the progress and achievements of the BJPT over the last two decades
1
. These advances have been supported by the researchers’ expertise, the quality of
publications, and the scientific evolution of the physical therapy profession
worldwide.
It is well known that the physical therapy profession has a diversity of knowledge
related
to its specialties and public health demands. This diversity can be attributed to
aspects
such as relevant clinical outcomes, target populations, and a wide variety of settings
in
which physical therapists can work
2
.
In terms of historical context, physical therapy has been influenced by economic,
cultural,
and educational aspects
3
of public and research policies that prioritize some fields of expertise over
others. Among physical therapy’s specialties, occupational health and ergonomics is
a novel
example which is both increasing in clinical relevance and dissemination by professionals
in a range of settings. This relevance can be easily seen by the increasing number
of
physical therapists involved in occupational health and ergonomics initiatives
worldwide.
The impact of this relevance has also been reflected by an increase in demand for
improvements in worker health and company productivity. It is important to point out
that
advanced skills and clinical competencies are necessary to improve our professional
capabilities and to expand the presence of physical therapists in different occupational
settings. However, our professional practice is still guided by weak scientific evidence
regarding the effectiveness of intervention strategies and the validity of instruments
used
for the identification of workplace risk factors, as well as for the evaluation of
physical
and functional worker health. Why is this so? Some reasons are presented below in
order to
understand this scenario.
Contrasting with the broad spectrum of professional activities promoted by physical
therapists in occupational health and ergonomics, scientific research is only at an
incipient stage. Although research within occupational health and ergonomics has been
conducted worldwide, there are few physical therapists in this field, which has resulted
in
a limited number of published studies compared with other specialties such as
musculoskeletal and cardiorespiratory physical therapy.
The World Confederation for Physical Therapy (WCPT) supported the creation of a physical
therapy network
4
composed of an international research group to integrate physical therapists who
are working in occupational health and ergonomics. The initial goal of this network
was to
engender discussion among professionals and to organize a meeting during the World
Physical
Therapy Congress. We can thus point out that physical therapy in occupational health
and
ergonomics in Brazil and worldwide share similar aspects and need to expand and
solidify.
In Brazil, the duties of physical therapists working in occupational health and ergonomics
were approved by COFFITO Resolution no. 403 in 2011
5
, which provided clarity on the roles of physical therapists within this specialty.
This Resolution
5
,
6
, which is similar to those used in other countries such as Australia, The
Netherlands, Canada, and the United States, sets out the skills and competencies required
for physical therapists to implement health education programs, physical capacity
and
functional assessments, job and workplace analysis, training of motor abilities, risk
control, and physical exercise programs
6
,
7
. Resolutions such as these demonstrate the importance of this specialty
internationally.
Although recognized and represented by a large number of physical therapists in the
workplace, the specialty is still small in terms of number of publications. The lack
of
research conducted by physical therapists in occupational health and ergonomics confirms
the low representation compared to more consolidated fields in the scientific context.
This
scenario has a direct impact on the scientific output in the field of occupational
health
and ergonomics
2
,
8
. As an example, we can emphasize the small number of clinical trials registered in
the PEDro database, which includes less than 600 publications on occupation health
and
ergonomics (search conducted in March 2016), making it the smallest sub-discipline
within
all fields of physical therapy. Nevertheless, this does not mean that occupational
health
and ergonomics in physical therapy does not have an impact on scientific research.
A
fundamental question is related to the characteristics of this field of research,
which
focuses on studies analyzing determinants of work with cross-sectional and longitudinal
designs using epidemiological and biomechanical approaches.
A recent discussion paper presented the challenges faced by researchers from occupational
health and ergonomics attempting to conduct randomized controlled trials (RCT) as
this
research design is the “gold standard” for evidence-based practice
9
in the workplace. The main challenges are related to organizations, many of which
have concerns about RCT research design, such as: 1) the organization objects to randomly
allocating their employees to an intervention or control group; 2) the organization
wants
to target all employees with an intervention; 3) the organization wants to adjust
the
intervention protocol; and 4) the organization is subject to internal or external
changes.
The consequences of these challenges may produce confounding results due to unreliable
randomization, selection bias, or lack of a control group. Consequently, to overcome
these
concerns, certain study designs are preferable, such as stepped-wedge, propensity
scores,
instrumental variables, multiple baseline design, interrupted time series,
difference-in-difference, and regression discontinuity
9
. These suboptimal designs are much more likely to be biased compared with high
quality, randomized controlled trials, but given the impossibility of conducting clinical
trials, these research designs can be very useful.
Therefore, this letter calls upon professionals and researchers to strengthen the
relevance
and quality of research within this field. Additionally, it seeks to make editors
and
researchers aware of the importance of high quality studies for physical therapy in
occupational health and ergonomics and of other study designs for the advancement
of
scientific knowledge. This awareness is corroborated by current health demands such
as
aging of the population, functional assessment of workers, increased participation
of women
in the workplace and its impact on work design and daily life activities, human
functionality and the influence of workplace risk factors, the growth of chronic diseases,
and the importance of the discussion of the physical therapist’s role in prevention,
health, and well-being programs. Collaboration between professionals and researchers
is
crucial to redirect and change the national scenario in the long term.
Our intent with this letter has been to focus on the demands and scientific progress
of
physical therapy in occupational health and ergonomics and to raise awareness in the
academic community concerning the role of the physical therapist and of research within
this field. Moreover, we intend to encourage the development of further studies with
different designs and highlight the applicability and potential of each model for
evidence-based physical therapy and the interface with occupational health and
ergonomics.
We believe that our involvement and experience is innovative, therefore we invite
our
research fellows and colleagues to contribute to this field in order to help the physical
therapy profession to broaden the body of knowledge and increase its research productivity
and impact, taking into account the peculiarities and characteristics of each field
of
research.