Research in pediatric physical therapy: an analysis of trends in first fifteen years of publication.

PURPOSE

All articles published in Pediatric Physical Therapy (PPT) within the first 15 years of publication were reviewed to determine research trends.

METHODS

All articles published in PPT (n = 262) were categorized as research or nonresearch, classified as experimental or nonexperimental, and further categorized as examination/evaluation, intervention, prognosis, and economics. The data were divided into the following three groups: Volumes 1-5, Volumes 6-10, and Volumes 11-15.

RESULTS

During the 15-year period, 64% of all published articles were derived from original research (p = 0.01). Thirty-two articles (12% of the total number of articles) met the definition of experimental, and 136 articles (52% of the total number of articles) met the definition of nonexperimental. Four research articles disseminated results from randomized-control clinical trials. The number of articles reporting experimental research did not show a significant increase during the 15-year period.

CONCLUSIONS

Pediatric Physical Therapy is a major source of information, including evidence-based research, for pediatric physical therapists, meeting the demand of therapists to base clinical decisions on research.