The purpose of this study was to examine perspectives of physical therapists on the level of importance of the early intervention competencies to practice in early intervention and differences in perspectives based on demographic factors. A web-based survey was disseminated to physical therapists who worked in early intervention or with children birth to 3 years of age by nonprobability sampling techniques. Of 288 surveys, 80.4% of responses on the importance level of the early intervention competencies were within “extremely important (5.0)” or “very important (4.0)” categories, with a mean score of 4.18. Thirteen competencies received greater than 60% of responses within the “extremely important” category, with no significant differences among therapists based on demographic factors. Physical therapists rated all early intervention competencies on the positive side of the importance scale, with certain competencies rated as more important than others. Competencies with highest ratings should be emphasized at all levels of physical therapy professional development.

中文翻译：

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物理治疗师对早期干预能力对物理治疗实践重要性的看法

本研究的目的是检查物理治疗师对早期干预能力在早期干预实践中的重要性水平的观点，以及基于人口因素的观点差异。一项基于网络的调查已通过非概率抽样技术分发给从事早期干预或治疗 3 岁以下儿童的物理治疗师。在 288 份调查中，80.4% 的关于早期干预能力重要性水平的回答属于“极其重要（5.0）”或“非常重要（4.0）”类别，平均得分为 4.18。在“极其重要”类别中，13 项能力得到了超过 60% 的回应，基于人口统计因素的治疗师之间没有显着差异。物理治疗师在重要性量表的积极方面对所有早期干预能力进行评级，某些能力被评为比其他能力更重要。应在物理治疗专业发展的各个层面强调具有最高评级的能力。