Aims:The establishment of the professional self-government in 2015 based on the Act on the Profession of Physiotherapist structured the profession in Poland, providing it a legal framework. The mandatory professional register was also introduced. This is an important database of demographic data on the physiotherapy market in the country, based on which the first summary statistics were created. The aim of this study was to estimate and delineate the territorial differentiation of physiotherapists' professional activity in the country. Material and methods:The data originate from the official statistics of the National Chamber of Physiotherapists, associating all persons with the right to practice the profession.Results: Data analysis shows that counties in south-eastern Poland are characterised by a very high number of physiotherapists, while an insufficient number of physiotherapists is observed, for example, in the central-eastern part of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. Conclusions:While the excess number of physiotherapists provides a specific comfort for people living in these regions, the insufficient supply of services in other areas poses a serious threat to the public health of residents. Hence, stakeholders should make efforts to improve this state of affairs as soon as possible. Nevertheless, changes in the number of physiotherapists in Poland should certainly be systematically monitored so that the areas requiring intervention can be identified.

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Background: Probably due to an oversight in the preparation phase of the legislative process, the Act on the Profession of Physiotherapy limited the possibility of conducting business activity only to medical entities. Separate regulations were introduced to allow physiotherapists to work as individual and group practitioners. Now it seems appropriate to assess how physiotherapy practices are structured in Poland.Aims: This study aimed to perform a quantitative and qualitative analysis of physiotherapy practices in Poland, taking into account factors such as the distribution across all regions of the country, type of practice, physiotherapists' age and education and city size. Material and methods:The results and analyses presented in this report were based on statistical data taken from the official statistics of the Polish National Chamber of Physiotherapists.Results: At the end of the 1st quarter of 2020, there were over 11,000 registered individual physiotherapy practices in Poland. The highest concentration of individual physiotherapy practices was in western Poland. The most common demographic profile of physiotherapists who decided to register their practice was that of a young man with a master's degree from a big city. Conclusions:Future studies should utilize more complete data from other health professions and compare their results with those from other European Union and non-European Union countries.

Introduction: Physiotherapists have been calling for regulations regarding their job for years. The main reasons for their fight to implement these regulations included caring about patients' safety, improving the quality of services and increasing professional independence. In September 2015, the President of Poland signed the Act on the Profession of Physiotherapist (APP). The controversial items in the Act mainly referred to the Professional Self-Government as well as rights and duties of physiotherapists. The aim of the work was to analyse and compare the opinions of medical community members (including physiotherapists) as well as patients on the key guidelines of the APP. Material and methods: A questionnaire that included 20 questions regarding the guidelines of the APP was applied in the study. Internet links to the questionnaire were sent via email to randomly selected respondents from three groups, i.e. physiotherapists (PT), representatives of other medical professions (OMP) and patients (P). Results: The author received 177 completed questionnaires (PT n=67, OMP n=40, P n=70). The majority of the respondents in all the groups were 20-40 years of age (PT, OMP, P). Doctors of various specialisations constituted 67% of the OMP group. In this group, 17.5% of the respondents did not approve of the professional self-government of physiotherapists, while in the P group, 17% of the respondents expressed the same opinion. The majority of the respondents in all the groups (P-54%, OMP-70%, PT-85%) believed that physiotherapists should select physiotherapeutic procedures independently. In turn, 15% of the respondents from the OMP group, 21% from the P group and 7.5% from the PT group indicated that procedures should be selected by a rehabilitation doctor. Conclusions: It was noted that there is a need for raising awareness regarding the job of a physiotherapist and for promoting it in the society but also among the representatives of OMP. Legal changes on the market of services provided by physiotherapists require educating in terms of new legal regulations. There is also a need for further research on opinions regarding the changes in the physiotherapy sector.

Introduction:Since the beginning of the COV-ID-19 pandemic, over 532 million people have been infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. In the case of COVID-19, all medical personnel are particularly vulnerable. By becoming more familiar with the risk and protective factors among physiotherapists, we will be able to better prepare for similar occurrences in the future. Aims:The objective was to distinguish risk and protective factors for COVID-19 incidence among physiotherapists in Poland. Materials and methods:Links to the questionnaires were sent via email to all Polish registered physiotherapists in November 2020. Results:The study was conducted on a sample of 2044 physiotherapists. Multivariate analysis results indicated that physiotherapists' having a child or children in the first grades of primary school increased their risk of COVID-19 infection by more than 70% (compared to physiotherapists who did not have children of that age). Individuals working in hospitals had a more than 50% higher risk of contracting the disease, while working in a private practice reduced the risk of contracting SARS-CoV-2 by nearly 40%. Working overtime increased the risk of contracting the disease by 30% compared to physiotherapists whose work did not exceed full-time hours. Conclusions:In order to prevent exposure to infection, special protective measures would need to be implemented for physiotherapists with preschool children, who work in a hospital and work overtime.