Relationship of School-Based Physical Therapy Services to Student Goal Achievement

To explore the relationships of school-based physical therapy services to student goal achievement. 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. 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). A limited number of physical therapy services was associated with exceeding goal expectation.