March 4, 2021
RE: IOPTPWH Executive Committee response to the published article: Boissonnault J, Kuhn A, Meeker M, Strong S, Stephenson RG. An International Survey of Women's and Pelvic Health Physical Therapy Organizational Practice. Journal of Women's Health Physical Therapy: October/December 2020; 44(4):160-175. doi:10.1097/JWH.0000000000000174.
The current (June 2019 to present) Executive Committee (EC) of the International Organization of Physical Therapists in Pelvic and Women's Health (IOPTPWH) provides the following clarifications to the above cited article (Boissonnault et al, 2020):
* The IOPTPWH did not commission the survey reported in this publication. The EC was approached by the authors in February 2019 to review a survey and provide feedback on content. Concerns and content suggestions were made at that time by the EC; however, not all of suggestions and concerns were addressed in the final survey, and consensus of the final version was not reached. We therefore do not agree that this survey was "validated" as stated in the publication.
* This survey in no way influenced the organization's name change process. The IOPTPWH started the name change process in December 2015 and member voting on the final version of the name began in November 2018, with all countries casting their votes prior to this survey being sent to delegates.
* This survey was not completed by all country members of the IOPTPWH and was only made available in American English. When the IOPTPWH updates Scope of Practice, documentation processes will be used to ensure a full representation of membership.
* IOPTPWH member delegates were not made aware of the researchers' intent to publish data obtained in this survey. The World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki states that researchers should be aware of ethical obligations in their own countries as well as international requirements).1 Ethical standards usually require researchers to advise participants of how their data will be used and disseminated. For example, in Australia, "...: (k) the likelihood and form of dissemination of the research results including publication" should be communicated to participants.2(p17) As a global publisher, Springer's editorial policy states: "Individuals may consent to participate in a study, but object to having their data published in a journal article. Authors should make sure to also seek consent from individuals to publish their data prior to submitting their paper to a journal."3
* The IOPTPWH EC did not view the publication manuscript in draft or final format and had no input into this publication. If we had been provided this opportunity, our concerns could have been addressed prior to publication.
Yours sincerely,
The Executive Committee of the International Organization of Physical Therapists in Pelvic and Women's Health (IOPTPWH) (June 2019 to present, recognized subgroup of World Physiotherapy)
https://world.physio/subgroups/pelvic-womens-health
Melissa Davidson, PhD, President IOPTPWH
Sonia Roa, MPH, Vice President IOPTPWH
Heather Pierce, PhD, Secretary IOPTPWH
Meena Sran, PhD, Treasurer IOPTPWH
Annelie Gutke, PhD, Member-at Large IOPTPWH
1. World Health Organization. World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki: Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human Subjects. Bull World Health Organ. 2001;79(4):373-374. [Context Link]
2. National Health and Medical Research Council. National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research 2007, (Updated 2018). https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/about-us/publications/national-statement-ethical-conduc. Accessed February 22, 2021. [Context Link]
3. Springer. Consent to Publish. https://www.springer.com/gp/editorial-policies/informed-consent. Accessed February 22, 2021. [Context Link]
Authors' Response to the IOPTPWH EC Letter to the Editor of March 2021
The authors of "An International Survey of Women's and Pelvic Health Physical Therapy Organizational Practice" wish to thank the Journal editors for this opportunity to respond to the International Organization of Physical Therapists in Pelvic and Women's Health (IOPTPWH) Executive Committee's (EC) Letter to the Editor.
The authors stand by the work as printed in the journal. This research was undertaken to assist the IOPTPWH with an update to its Scope of Practice document and was done in cooperation with the IOPTPWH. The authors communicated with the then president of the IOPTWH (the International Organization of Physical Therapists in Women's Health, as the IOPTPWH was known prior to a recent name change) asking if research on Scope of Practice would benefit the organization. An understanding of IOPTWH's role in the research process was agreed upon; the primary role being content validators accomplished through rounds of electronic communications on survey iterations. No discussion was had regarding EC involvement in manuscript preparation. The EC (the EC of the IOPTWH at the time the research was completed) never requested to see drafts of the manuscript. As agreed upon, the survey data were shared with the EC. Two members of the EC of the IOPTWH are currently serving on the EC of the IOPTPWH.
The authors believe consensus was reached with the EC on a majority of survey suggestions the EC put forth. There are e-mails and survey iterations attesting to this. There were a few recommendations from the EC that the authors did not agree with, and the authors communicated this to the EC at the time. This is not unusual when involved in a validation process. Explanations were provided to the EC why these few recommendations were not utilized. The authors believed the EC was satisfied with the final version of the survey based on e-mail correspondence.
There are also e-mails between the authors and the past-President and other members of the EC of the then IOPTWH. The authors reviewed these e-mails and were able to verify that the writing of a manuscript and the use of the EC as content validators were communicated between the authors and the past-President and at least one other member of the then IOPTWH EC.
As to the concern about the data being published without consent from the participants, the authors went through an institutional review board process at Shenandoah University in Virginia and were granted approval. In addition, the paper went through a blinded peer-review process from the Journal of Women's Health Physical Therapy. Neither organization raised concerns regarding the consent process. A consent form was included in the online survey and noted that the survey results may be utilized for purposes other than the Scope of Practice update. It is not at all uncommon for survey data gleaned from work on professional documents, such as guidelines, a description of specialty practice, or from an accreditation process, to be published afterwards. The authors regret any discontentment the current EC or any IOPTPWH member organizations might have with this work and any miscommunication that may have occurred during the process.
Jill Boissonnault, PT, PhD, WCS
Allyson Kuhn, PT, DPT
Mekayla Meeker, PT, DPT
Sarah Strong, PT, DPT
Rebecca Stephenson, PT, DPT
Editor's Note: The article referenced can be accessed via the journal website at: https://journals.lww.com/jwhpt/Fulltext/2020/10000/An_International_Survey_of_Wo.