BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Pain, for being largely neglected by most university curricula, is requiring new and urgent educational strategies aiming at improving its management in the daily practice. This study aimed at assessing pain and therapeutic knowledge of physiotherapy students of a university center, explaining best known therapeutic approaches to control pain and determining the evolution of knowledge about pain throughout the course. METHODS: This is a descriptive transversal study with primary database query, carried out in the University Center of Gurupi (UNIRG), in the city of Gurupi/TO. Sample was made up of 85 physiotherapy students from the 1st to the 10th period. For a better analysis, participants were divided in three categories: Group A (students from the 1st to the 4th period), Group B (5th to 8th period) and Group C (9th to 10th period). RESULTS: Mean right answers when comparing groups was 46.8% for Group A, 47.0% for Group B and 49.7% for Group C, showing deficiency in the approach of the subject as basic requirement for the physiotherapy course curriculum, although the difference among groups was small. CONCLUSION: Pain is addressed during graduation not as a major subject but rather as a complementary concept for several disciplines. So, it is suggested that physiotherapy courses curricula should specifically address pain, since decreasing pain is a major physiotherapy objective.
Knowledge; Pain; Physiotherapy
