Aplicativo mobile e web para auxílio de fisioterapeutas na avaliação funcional dentro de Unidades de Tratamento Intensivo

Abstract

Intensive Care Units (ICU) are places intended to provide specialized care to patients in critical condition. ICU patients need strict control of their vital parameters with continuous and intensive care. Intensive Care Physiotherapists (physiotherapists responsible for ICU patients) use several techniques to measure the physical condition of these patients. Functional Assessments are part of these techniques and allow, even in critical conditions, physiotherapists to monitor the degradation and/or physical evolution of their patients in the ICU. This work seeks to implement a tool capable of helping professionals in performing these Functional Assessments, providing a quick way to manipulate the data from the assessment. As a first objective, the Functional Assessment that uses the Medical Research Council (MRC) scale has been implemented. The app expects the Functional Assessment data in order to provide immediate classification and information about that assessment. In addition, reports on the patient’s evolution and history of the evaluations performed are presented. During the evaluation phase, physiotherapists participated in a series of tests and demonstrations of the new tool. Following their hands-on experience, they completed a 13-item questionnaire designed in accordance with the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) framework. Responses were collected using a 5-point Likert scale to capture quantitative data. Out of the distributed questionnaires, 11 complete responses were gathered. The analysis of the results underscored the tool’s significance in the clinical setting. Considering the diversity of functional assessments in physiotherapy, the tool demonstrates significant potential for future enhancements, with the capacity to integrate an increasingly wide array of features to better serve the evolving needs of physiotherapists.