Epistemic beliefs as a determinant in evidence-based practice in physiotherapy – a Multi-Country (Europe) Cross-Sectional Online Survey Study

AbstractPurpose: This article assumes that, in order to improve evidence-based practice in physiotherapy, practitioners need sophisticated epistemic beliefs. Epistemic beliefs, or how physiotherapists view knowledge and how they come to this knowledge, are an important factor. A high sophistication of epistemic beliefs is linked to better handling of the complexity and uncertainty of daily practice and the variety of evidence resources associated with this practice.Materials and methods: This study explored the epistemic beliefs of physiotherapists in 10 different countries in Europe using an online survey: the Connotative Aspects of Epistemic Beliefs (CAEB).Results and conclusions: The study resulted in 1419 surveys. The epistemic beliefs proved to be of little difference between countries, showing a low to moderate sophistication in epistemic beliefs. Given the similar results between countries, this study also suggested the possibility of collaborating internationally in developing an epistemology in p...