title: Evidence-based practice: beliefs, attitudes, knowledge, and skills among Colombian physical therapists.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The main purpose of this study was to describe a group of Colombian physical therapists' beliefs and attitudes towards Evidence-Based Practice (EBP), their education, knowledge and skills for implementing EBP, the use of relevant literature in clinical practice, access to and availability of scientific information and perceived barriers to including EBP in practice.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a cross-sectional study which involved 1,064 Colombian physical therapists. The study used a 50-item screening questionnaire EBP developed to estimate attitudes, beliefs, knowledge and skills regarding. This instrument has been adapted and was validated previously in Colombia by Flórez-López et al.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The population mostly consisted of young females (77.2%) aged 22 to 29 years old (79.4%). Most respondents had an undergraduate degree (87.7%). The physical therapists stated that they had positive attitudes and beliefs regarding EBP, most of them answering that they agreed or strongly agreed that EBP is necessary (71.6%), the relevant literature is useful for practice (61.3%), EBP improves the quality of patient care (64.1%) and evidence helps in decision-making (44.5%). Forty-one percent of the respondents indicated that a lack of research skills was the most important barrier to the use of evidence in practice.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The physical therapists reported that they had a positive attitude to EBP and were interested in learning about or improving the skills necessary to adopt EBP in their clinical practice.
authors.affiliation: Grupo GICAEDS, Facultad de Cultura Física, Deporte y Recreación, Universidad Santo Tomas, Bogotá, Colombia ; Grupo de Ejercicio Físico y Deportes, Programa de Fisioterapia, Facultad de Salud, Universidad Manuela Beltrán, Bogotá, Colombia.
authors.forename: Robinson
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ramírez-Vélez
authors.affiliation: Centro de Estudios en Medición de la Actividad Física (CEMA), Escuela de Medicina y Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá, Colombia.
authors.forename: Jorge Enrique
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Correa-Bautista
authors.affiliation: Programa de Fisioterapia, Facultad de Salud, Universidad CES, Medellín, Colombia.
authors.forename: Diana Isabel
authors.initials: DI
authors.lastname: Muñoz-Rodríguez
authors.affiliation: Instituto Universitario de Ciencias de la Salud, Fundación H.A. Barceló, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Lorena
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ramírez
authors.affiliation: Grupo de Ejercicio Físico y Deportes, Programa de Fisioterapia, Facultad de Salud, Universidad Manuela Beltrán, Bogotá, Colombia.
authors.forename: Katherine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: González-Ruíz
authors.affiliation: Universidad de La Sabana, Campus Universitario del Puente del Común, Chía, Colombia.
authors.forename: María Andrea
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Domínguez-Sánchez
authors.affiliation: Centro de Estudios en Medición de la Actividad Física (CEMA), Escuela de Medicina y Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá, Colombia.
authors.forename: Diana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Durán-Palomino
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Fisioterapia, Universitat Internacional de Catalunya, Barcelona, España.
authors.forename: Montserrat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Girabent-Farrés
authors.affiliation: Universidad de La Sabana, Campus Universitario del Puente del Común, Chía, Colombia.
authors.forename: María Eugenia
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Flórez-López
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Fisioterapia, Universitat Internacional de Catalunya, Barcelona, España.
authors.forename: M Caridad
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Bagur-Calafat
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003105:Colombia; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D055317:Evidence-Based Practice; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D059825:Physical Therapists / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D026761:Physical Therapy Specialty / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Physical therapy; attitude; clinical practice; evidence-based practice; research