Development of an online toolkit to train physical therapists in the
diagnosis, evaluation, and treatment of patients with patellar
tendinopathy
Jumper's knee; digital health; knowledge translation; tendon; tendinitis
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Patellar tendinopathy is a common cause of knee pain that
affects young and physically active individuals in addition to athletes.
Patellar tendinopathy can lead to interruption of physical activity and
early retirement of athletes. Despite the ease and abundance of
information available, physical therapists struggle to properly manage
this condition. Information overload, lack of time, language, and
difficulties in critically appraising scientific evidence are some of the
barriers physiotherapists face in adopting evidence-based practice.
Objective: To develop an online toolkit based on the best scientific evidence to enable physiotherapists to improve their skills in diagnosing, assessing and treating patients with patellar tendinopathy.
Methodology: The development of the toolkit occurred in 3 phases: (I)
definition of the toolkit content through a literature review on patellar
tendinopathy; (II) development of the toolkit prototype; (III) evaluation of
the toolkit by physiotherapists through focus groups.
Results: In Phase 1, the content of the toolkit was defined and presented
in the form of text, infographics, videos and quizzes, and was divided
into three main modules with their respective sub-modules. The
prototype of the toolkit was developed in phase 2. In phase 3 the focus
group (n = 6 physiotherapists) took place, which allowed the
improvement of the content and provided improvements for the usability
of the toolkit. The toolkit is available at
https://tendinopatiapatelar.trekeducation.org/.
Conclusions: The toolkit shows potential to be a good option for a
source of quality information for physiotherapists involved in the care of
patellar tendinopathy. The Patellar Tendinopathy Toolkit has content
based on the best available scientific evidence and user-friendly tools.
Future studies should investigate the actual impact of the toolkit on
clinical outcomes of patients with patellar tendinopathy.