Selected topical medications: Patterns, knowledge and preference in clinical practice among Nigerian physiotherapists

Application of topical medication remains an essential component of clinical physiotherapy practice but previous reports have revealed poor knowledge of medications among Nigerian physiotherapists. Also, there are arrays of topical medications available but there is envelope of doubts on what determines the choice of Nigerian physiotherapists. The primary aims of this study were to investigate the pattern and preference of selected topical medications in clinical practice among physiotherapists. A structured self administered questionnaire was administered to 200 physiotherapists in purposively selected hospitals in Southwest, Nigeria. Descriptive statistics of mean, standard deviation and percentages were used to analyze the data. The results showed that most physiotherapists were familiar with diclofenac sodium (92.0%) and methyl salicilate (92.5%) while very few were familiar with dexamethasone, zinc oxide ,magnesium sulphate, capsaicin and naproxen (27.0%, 34.5%, 35.0%, 36.0% and 37.0%) respectively. The results also showed that 56.5% and 63.5% of physiotherapists were correct about functions of diclofenac sodium and glucosamine sulphate respectively. Only 8%, 20.5% and 2.5% physiotherapists knew the functions of magnesium sulphate as an analgesic and as a muscle relaxant; and lidocaine as an anesthetic agent. The results further revealed that 34.0% and 17.0% chose menthol and dexamethasone respectively as their least preferred topical medications and they based their choice mostly on efficacy, active ingredients in the drugs and reported efficacy by patients. Most physiotherapists (63.3%) were not correct about the dominant ions present in the selected topical medications. We concluded that physiotherapists in this study were mostly familiar with diclofenac sodium and methyl salicylate but diclofenac was the most preferred topical medication in clinical practice. There was general poor knowledge on functions and dominant ionic charges in the topical medications.