Abstract

Objective: To evaluate knowledge, attitudes and barriers towards research among physiotherapist and nutrition students.
Methodology: This cross-sectional study included 300 undergraduate students from three universities of Lahore using the convenience sampling method from September 2020 to February 2021. Inclusion criteria were only 8th, 9th and 10th semester physical therapy and nutrition students who had already studied biostatistics, evidence-based practice and research. The exclusion criteria were the students in 1st to 7th semester of their degree program, students outside the physiotherapy and nutrition department. We used a questionnaire to collect data.
Results: Out of 300 participants, 84% were females. Mean age was 23±1.16 years. 89% were physiotherapy students and 11% students of Food and Nutrition. Only 87.3% showed a positive attitude. Similarly, 92.3% faced more barriers during the entire research process. We found that 64.7% students showed inadequate knowledge towards research.
Conclusion: Undergraduate physical therapy and nutrition students showed a favorable knowledge of research, but their attitude towards the process ranked at below moderate. Females had a better knowledge and majority of students considered there were barriers to conducting research.

Key words: Awareness, medical students, nutrition, physical therapist, research.