The assessment of physiotherapy practice is a robust measure of entry-level physiotherapy standards: Reliability and validity evidence from a large, representative sample

Reubenson, Alan; Ng, Leo; Lawton, Vidya; Nahon, Irmina; Terry, Rebecca; Baldwin, Claire; Blackford, Julia; Bond, Alex; Corrigan, Rosemary; Dalton, Megan; Dario, Amabile Borges; Donovan, Michael; Dunwoodie, Ruth; Dwyer, Genevieve M; Forbes, Roma; Francis-Cracknell, Alison; Gill, Janelle; Hams, Andrea; Jones, Anne; Jones, Taryn; Judd, Belinda; Kennedy, Ewan; Morgan, Prue; Palmer, Tanya; Peiris, Casey; Taylor, Carolyn; Virtue, Debra; Zischke, Cherie; Gucciardi, Daniel F; (pcerc), on behalf of the Physiotherapy Clinical Education Research Collaborative

The assessment of physiotherapy practice is a robust measure of entry-level physiotherapy standards: Reliability and validity evidence from a large, representative sample

Alan Reubenson, Leo Ng, Vidya Lawton, Irmina Nahon, Rebecca Terry, Claire Baldwin, Julia Blackford, Alex Bond, Rosemary Corrigan, Megan Dalton, Amabile Borges Dario, Michael Donovan, Ruth Dunwoodie, Genevieve M Dwyer, Roma Forbes, Alison Francis-Cracknell, Janelle Gill, Andrea Hams, Anne Jones, Taryn Jones, Belinda Judd, Ewan Kennedy, Prue Morgan, Tanya Palmer, Casey Peiris, Carolyn Taylor, Debra Virtue, Cherie Zischke, Daniel F Gucciardi and on behalf of the Physiotherapy Clinical Education Research Collaborative (pcerc)

PLOS ONE, 2025, vol. 20, issue 4, 1-18

Abstract: The Assessment of Physiotherapy Practice (APP) is a 20-item assessment instrument used to assess entry-level physiotherapy practice in Australia, New Zealand and other international locations. Initial APP reliability and validity evidence supported a unidimensional or single latent factor as the best representation of entry-level physiotherapy practice performance. However, there remains inconsistency in how the APP is interpreted and operationalised across Australian and New Zealand universities offering entry-level physiotherapy programs. In essence, the presumption that the psychometric integrity of the APP generalises across people, time, and contexts remains largely untested. This multi-site, archival replication study utilised APP assessment data from 8,979 clinical placement assessments, across 19 Australian and New Zealand universities, graduating entry-level physiotherapy students (n=1865) in 2019. Structural representation of APP scores were examined via confirmatory factor analysis and penalised structural equation models. Factor analyses indicated a 2-factor representation, with four items (1–4) for the professional dimension and 16 items (5–20) for the clinical dimension, is the best approximation of entry-level physiotherapy performance. Measurement invariance analyses supported the robustness of this 2-factor representation over time and across diverse practice areas in both penultimate and final years of study. The findings provide strong evidence for the psychometric integrity of the APP, and the 2-factor alternative interpretation and operationalisation is recommended. To meet entry-level standards students should be assessed as competent across both professional and clinical dimensions of physiotherapy practice.

Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:plo:pone00:0321397

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0321397

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