Dataset: Physical Therapists' Prediction of Prognosis for Orthopedic and Neurological Cases: A Survey Study

Background: This study aimed to analyze the influence of ageist beliefs of practicing physical therapists (PTs) on their expectations concerning the behavior and outcomes of patients with orthopedic conditions. We hypothesized that stronger ageist beliefs would be related to expectations of worse outcomes and less treatment adherence in older patients compared to clinically identical younger patients.
Methods: Seventy-one (71) practicing PTs with a mean age of 40 years (+/-10.44, range 24-67) were recruited via snowball sampling. Participants were randomly assigned a case involving either a 42-year-old (YCG) or an 85-year-old patient (OCG) s/p surgical repair of a femoral shaft fracture. Participants were asked questions related to their expectations concerning the patient’s clinical and functional outcomes, response and adherence to physical therapy, and patient responsibility for their own outcomes. To measure ageism, participants completed the Kogan Attitude Toward Old People Scale consisting of 34 paired (positive/negative) statements.

背景：本研究旨在分析在职物理治疗师（Physical Therapists, PTs）的年龄偏见信念对其骨科疾病患者行为与预后预期的影响。本研究提出假设：与临床特征完全一致的年轻患者相比，持有更强年龄偏见信念的物理治疗师，对老年患者的预后预期更差，且治疗依从性预期更低。
方法：本研究通过滚雪球抽样法招募了71名在职物理治疗师，其平均年龄为40岁（标准差±10.44，年龄范围24~67岁）。参与者被随机分配至两种病例情境：分别为42岁患者（年轻病例组，YCG）与85岁患者（老年病例组，OCG），二人均为股骨干骨折手术修复术后患者。随后向参与者提出一系列问题，内容涵盖其对患者临床与功能预后、物理治疗响应程度与依从性，以及患者对自身预后的责任承担的预期。为测量年龄偏见水平，参与者完成了包含34组正负向配对陈述的科根老年人态度量表（Kogan Attitude Toward Old People Scale）。