An evaluation of the usefulness of noncognitive variables as predictors of scores on the national physical therapy licensing examination.

This study employed a correlational design to develop a model to assess the predictive nature of noncognitive variables with regard to the physical therapy licensing examination. Fifty-seven graduates of an accredited physical therapy education program completed the Non-Cognitive Questionnaire-Revised (NCQ-R) and provided their scores from the licensing examination. Regression analysis was used to explore combinations of the eight domains of the NCQ-R as predictors of licensing examination scores. A model combining four of the NCQ-R domains (long-range goals, leadership, community ties, and academic familiarity) was constructed that would account for 21.3% of the variance in licensing examination scores. Some of the NCQ-R domains were related inversely, however, to higher scores on the licensing examination. The authors concluded that although noncognitive variables might be used by admissions committees as indicators of potential future success on the licensing examination, the NCQ-R as it is currently constructed may not be the best tool for measuring noncognitive variables to predict scores on the physical therapy licensing examination. Other health disciplines (e.g., occupational therapy, speech pathology, clinical laboratory science) could consider examining the predictive values of noncognitive variables when making admissions and advising decisions.