{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,23]],"date-time":"2026-09-23T14:00:02Z","timestamp":1790172002117,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":31,"publisher":"Wiley","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,10]],"date-time":"2026-09-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788998400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-nd\/4.0\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,10]],"date-time":"2026-09-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788998400000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/doi.wiley.com\/10.1002\/tdm_license_1.1"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["onlinelibrary.wiley.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Pediatric Blood &amp;amp; Cancer"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,11]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>ABSTRACT<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Physical rehabilitation is highly recognised in improving the quality of life of cancer survivors through prehabilitation, sequelae management and palliative care, yet its integration into routine care in Ghana has not been characterised, leading to potential gaps in service access.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Aim<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>To determine referral practices and utilisation of physiotherapy services as self\u2010reported by healthcare professionals (HCPs).<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>A quantitative cross\u2010sectional study involving proportionate sampling was conducted in three major tertiary healthcare facilities offering oncology services in Ghana. The study included 85 HCPs who work in these three facilities. Data were collected from the HCPs between May and September 2025 using a demographic information sheet and an adapted survey tool on cancer referral practices to physical rehabilitation. Data were entered into Microsoft Excel and further summarised using SPSS version 26 into frequencies and percentages.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Most medical practitioners (76.2%,\n                      <jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u00a0=\u00a048), including paediatricians, radiotherapists, oncologists, medical officers and paediatric residents, reported referring children\/adolescents for physiotherapy. The majority of physiotherapists (72.7%,\n                      <jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u00a0=\u00a016) also made referrals to other physiotherapists. Over half (54.0%,\n                      <jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u00a0=\u00a034) of the medical practitioners and physiotherapists (68.2%,\n                      <jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u00a0=\u00a015) referred between one and 10 cases annually. Medical practitioners (39.7%,\n                      <jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u00a0=\u00a025) referred \u2018sometimes\u2019, whilst physiotherapists (36.4%,\n                      <jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u00a0=\u00a08) referred \u2018often\u2019. Reasons prompting referrals included muscle weakness, limitations in activities of daily living and gait alterations. The majority of medical practitioners (61.9%,\n                      <jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u00a0=\u00a039) and physiotherapists (63.6%,\n                      <jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u00a0=\u00a014) revealed that children\/adolescents utilised physiotherapy services. Major reasons for non\u2010utilisation self\u2010reported by the HCPs included caregivers\u2019 financial barriers and parental choice.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The majority of HCPs reported referring children\/adolescents for physiotherapy because of physical limitations. Most referred cases utilised physiotherapy services; however, reasons for non\u2010utilisation included financial barriers and parental choice. Further investigations are suggested to unearth barriers to non\u2010referrals to improve referral pathways and physiotherapy utilisation.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1002\/1545-5017.70671","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,10]],"date-time":"2026-09-10T14:13:31Z","timestamp":1789049611000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Referral Practices and Utilisation of Paediatric Oncology Physiotherapy Services in Ghana: A Cross\u2010Sectional Study"],"prefix":"10.1002","volume":"73","author":[{"given":"Dorothy Ekua","family":"Adjabu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physiotherapy, School of Biomedical and Allied Health Sciences, College of Health Sciences University of Ghana  Accra Ghana"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Philip Junior","family":"Nyarko","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physiotherapy, School of Biomedical and Allied Health Sciences, College of Health Sciences University of Ghana  Accra Ghana"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Precious","family":"Madzimbe","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences University of Cape Town  Cape Town South Africa"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kofi Adesi","family":"Kyei","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Radiography, School of Biomedical and Allied Health Sciences, College of Health Sciences University of Ghana  Accra Ghana"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tawagidu","family":"Mohammed","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physiotherapy, School of Biomedical and Allied Health Sciences, College of Health Sciences University of Ghana  Accra Ghana"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sandra","family":"Banini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences University of Cape Town  Cape Town South Africa"},{"name":"Department of Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation Sciences University of Health and Allied Sciences  Ho Ghana"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"311","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_10_2_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S1470-2045(18)30761-7"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_3_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S1470-2045(13)70008-1"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_4_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S1470-2045(08)70175-X"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_5_1","unstructured":"GSS \u201cGhana 2021 Population and Housing Census: General Report Highlights \u201dGhana Statistical Service (GSS) 2022."},{"key":"e_1_2_10_6_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.canep.2023.102470"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_7_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.soncn.2019.150984"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_8_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.apmr.2021.05.021"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_9_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1158\/1055-9965.EPI-12-0740"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_10_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S1470-2045(13)70008-1"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_11_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/17437199.2011.603641"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_12_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ctrv.2018.08.012"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_13_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3390\/healthcare11060820"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_14_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3138\/ptc.2018-13.pp"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_15_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s00520-025-09785-z"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_16_1","volume-title":"Physical Therapy Is an Underutilized Health Resource for Children With Cancer: A Retrospective Study Identifies Facilitators for Improvement. 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