Objective: To identify how many people requested the Portuguese Version of the European Physiotherapy Guideline for Parkinson’s Disease (PD) and their profile.

Background: In 2016, the Portuguese Version of the European Physiotherapy Guideline for PD was published aiming to provide practical help to ensure equal access for people with Parkinson’s (pwp) to good quality and specialized care in Brazil and Portugal. Since then, several implementation strategies have been done. 

Methods: We assessed the information regarding the download of the Portuguese Version of the European Physiotherapy Guideline for PD (freely available for download at http://www.parkinsonnet.info/guidelines), and looked at the following questions that were answered through this website: “Why are you interested in the Guideline?”, “Where do you live?” and “Of which Guideline part(s) would you like to receive a PDF?”.

Results: A total of 160 people requested the Portuguese Version of the Guideline. Of them, 143 (89%) live in South America – 142 (99%) in Brazil and 1 (1%) in Chile, 1 (1%) in USA and 16 (10%) in Europe. One hundred and seven (67%) people were physiotherapists working with pwp, 17 (11%) were pwp or a relative of someone diagnosed with PD, 13 (8%) were physicians, 13 (8%) were physiotherapy students, 6 (4%) were fitness instructors working with pwp, 1 (1%) was a medical student, 1 (1%) was a nurse, 1 (1%) was a manager and salesman and 1 (1%) was an exercise assistant. The main document of the Guideline was requested by 147 (92%) people; the part of Information for People with Parkinson’s by 104 (65%) people; the part of Information for Physicians by 72 (45%) people and the part of Development and Scientific Justification by 74 (46%) people. One hundred and thirty-three (83%) people would like to be informed about activities regarding the Guideline (including education) and updates of the Guideline.

Conclusions: There is growing interest from different countries and professionals in downloading the Portuguese Version of the European Physiotherapy Guideline for PD. The part of the guideline of most interest was the main document followed by information for pwp. Different implementation strategies will be need to reach more pwp, physicians, physiotherapists and other health professionals. 

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/number-and-characteristics-of-people-who-requested-the-portuguese-version-of-the-european-physiotherapy-guideline-for-parkinsons-disease-a-one-year-follow-up/