Relationship of school-based physical therapy services to student goal achievement

Purpose: To explore the relationships of school-based physical therapy services to student goal achievement. Methods: One hundred nine physical therapists and 296 students participated in a practice-based study. Therapists formatted goals using goal attainment scaling and evaluated goal achievement. Using the School-Physical Therapy Interventions for Pediatrics system, therapists documented services weekly for 20 weeks. Group comparisons and logistic regressions were conducted. Results: For primary goals, no documented physical therapy services were associated with exceeding goal expectation. For posture/mobility goals, more minutes in self-care activities and services on behalf of the students were associated with exceeding goal expectation; use of cognitive and behavioral training interventions was associated with not exceeding goal expectation (P <.05). For recreation/fitness goals, greater use of functional strength and mobility for playground access and cognitive/behavioral interventions were associated with exceeding goal expectation (P <.05). Conclusion: A limited number of physical therapy services was associated with exceeding goal expectation.