Professional and educational characteristics and geographical distribution of physical therapists in Paraná - Brazil

ABSTRACT This study aimed to know the profile of physical therapists of Paraná in 2015, their sociodemographic characteristics, education tendencies and labor market. This is a quantitative cross-sectional research. The sample was comprised of 377 physical therapists, from the 11,272 professionals subscribed to the Professional Council in 2015, who answered a structured questionnaire available online. The results showed that physical therapists from Paraná are mostly young, aging from 21 to 40 years (81.7%), women (77.7%) and are concentrated in the macro-region of Curitiba (53.6%). The majority has graduated in the last ten years (59.9%) and has a specialization degree (73.7%); however, only a few are masters or PhDs. Most of the therapists (82.8%) work exclusively with their profession, having a single job (53.3%), at a private institution (59.2%), are self-employed (55.7%), having a daily workhour of eight hours (35.5%). Regarding the field of expertise, 68.7% work in more than one area, being Trauma and Orthopedic the one that presents the highest number of professionals (59.9%), followed by Neurofunctional (41.1%) and Respiratory (38.7%) areas. Most of the professionals have a monthly income between the minimum wage and 4,000 Reais (42.9%). Therefore, it was possible to outline the profile of physical therapists in Paraná in 2015, detecting the profession’s identity in the state and the projection of future tendencies, which will enable to the higher education institutions and category representation agencies the creation of future strategies for the designing and regulation of the labor market.

摘要 本研究旨在勾勒2015年巴西巴拉那州物理治疗师的群体画像，涵盖其社会人口学特征、教育发展趋势与劳动力市场现状。本研究为定量横断面研究，研究样本来源于2015年在专业委员会注册的11272名物理治疗师，最终纳入377名完成线上结构化问卷的受访者作为研究对象。
研究结果显示，巴拉那州物理治疗师以青年群体为主体：21至40岁人群占比81.7%，女性占比77.7%，且主要集中于库里蒂巴大区（53.6%）。多数受访者于近十年内毕业（59.9%），且持有专业进修资质（73.7%）；但仅有极少数人拥有硕士或博士学位。82.8%的治疗师仅从事物理治疗相关工作，其中53.3%仅拥有一份全职工作，59.2%就职于私立机构，55.7%为自主从业者，日均工作时长8小时的人群占比35.5%。
在专业领域方面，68.7%的治疗师同时涉足多个领域，其中创伤与骨科领域从业人数占比最高（59.9%），其次为神经功能领域（41.1%）与呼吸治疗领域（38.7%）。多数受访者月收入介于最低工资标准与4000雷亚尔之间（42.9%）。
综上，本研究成功勾勒出2015年巴拉那州物理治疗师的群体画像，明确了该职业在本州的职业认同与未来发展趋势，可为高等教育机构及行业代表机构制定劳动力市场规划与监管的相关策略提供参考依据。