Do Professional Attitudes Align with Academic Performance? A Cluster Analysis of Physical Therapy Students

Abstract

Objective: To identify professional attitudes among physical therapy graduates and to find patterns of professional attitudes in relation to academic performance using cluster analysis.
Study Design: An analytical cross-sectional study.
Place and Duration of Study: Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Medicine, Prince of Songkla University, Thailand between March 01, 2025 to September 30, 2025.
Materials and Methods: The study included 65 physical therapy graduates. Participants completed an adapted questionnaire assessing professional attitudes across four domains. Grade point averages (GPAs) were obtained from official academic records. K-means cluster analysis was used to identify clusters based on GPA and professional attitude scores. Cluster characteristics were summarized descriptively, followed by exploratory comparisons using the Kruskal–Wallis test with post-hoc Mann–Whitney U tests.
Results: Overall, participants reported favourable attitudes toward the physical therapy profession. Three distinct profiles emerged. The profiles were characterized by lower relative GPA with high attitude scores, higher GPA with high attitude scores, and intermediate GPA with comparatively lower attitude scores. These profiles illustrate that academic performance, and professional attitudes do not necessarily align.
Conclusion: The findings indicate variation in professional attitudes across levels of academic performance among physical therapy graduates. These findings highlight the importance of considering professional attitudes alongside academic performance in physical therapy education.