Table 4.

Relevant quotations to support themes and sub-themes

Themes and sub-themes	Quotations
Theme 1: System level barriers
Sub-theme 1: inaccessibility and cost of transportation	Quotes for cost of transport
	(P02) “I take ‘dropping’ and it was GHȻ 50.00. It was too expensive, too much”.
	P03 “I buy fuel around GHȻ 100.00 but we don't spend all the GHȻ 100 there. I will say its moderate by then but now I will say it's expensive”.
	P05; “The distance, we are now close to Kokrobite and coming down to KBTH for physio was becoming a problem. It cost GHȻ 100.00 that's GHȻ 50.00 in and GHȻ 50.00 out. It's too expensive, ehh I am a retiree”.
	Quotes for travel duration
	P01 reported “So, we were coming with a taxi, from Ofankor to Korle Bu and it was quite a distance and without traffic it should take 40mins but with traffic an hour”.
	P02 responded “like one hour” “Err, at times we leave home around 7:00 or 7:30 am and we get to Korle Bu around 8:30am or 9:00am, It is quite far”.
	P05 stated “Because of traffic it takes about an hour and half”. “It was becoming tiring for me (the husband) and herself if I had a physio nearby, I would have love it so we started going to Akawe, that was a reason she defaulted”.
Sub-theme 2: Cost of treatment	P03 stated “Ohhh, wow because first I have to use the national health insurance and may be some little money like GHȻ 20.00 by then but it was under GHȻ 50.00” and “the cost was worrying, that everyday every time I come, I have to pay money why? I use to complain about it. Because every session I have to pay money. Ohhhh it was moderately expensive”.
	P05 said “we paid about GHȻ 100.00 during visit to the physiotherapy clinic and it was expensive but this was not the reason why she defaulted physiotherapy treatment”.
Sub-theme 3: Treatment duration and waiting time	Quotes for treatment duration
	P01 said “treatment time was about 45mins which was okay”.
	P06 said “Treatment took about 30 to 40 mins and it was okay”.
	P03 said “And the treatment time was under 40 minutes, it somehow too little, ermm, because sometimes they will be like we are teaching you so that when you go home you can do it there”.
	Quotes for waiting time
	P01 said “I had to wait for about 30 mins and that was okay”.
	P04 said, “Usually not long, they are booked so if they book you for 10 O'clock usually, they see you when you get there, the waiting time is not that long it was about 30-40mins”.
	P06 said, “if I get there early, I can wait for about 15mins before they see me and if I get there late, I meet a lot of people so I have to wait for about 40mins before they see me ”.
Sub-theme 4: Non-availability of equipment	P02 reported “there was no equipment and no access to all equipment”.
	P05 noted that “we had to wait until those people who were there to finish. So, I think unavailability of sufficient equipment made me stop the physio”.
Theme 2: Individual level barriers	P02 reported “I was not satisfied with treatment”.
Sub-theme 1: Dissatisfaction and unrealistic expectation of therapy	P03 said “my expectation was like as I start the physiotherapy I recover soon and since that expectation wasn't met that prevented me from attending. Ermm, the satisfaction, I thought I will get a quick response to healing and since I did not get it that is why I stopped. I wasn't much satisfied”.
	P06 reported “I am satisfied, but I was not seeing much improvement because every day same thing and home assignment but I am not improving very fast. I expected to get better as soon as possible. I will say my expectations were not met so I stopped”.
Sub-theme 2: Presence of comorbidities	P04 said, “I am diabetic but it is not the reason why I stopped physiotherapy”
	P05 said, “Yes, she is diabetic and hypertensive. The hypertension was alternating, so sometimes in a hurry we may forget the medication in attempt to reach the physio department early. The blood pressure will be high and she cannot be seen so we stopped”.
Sub-theme 3: Family and societal support	Quotes for family support
	P01 “it was good”. P06 said, “My husband and children are always there for me”
	P02 recounted, “the family support was poor and that made me stop physio”.
	Quotes for societal support
	P02 said, “No I wasn't stigmatized”
	P03 said, “Cordial, he wasn't stigmatized just that he is not happy when he is in the mist of people and he start shaking. So, because of that he doesn't attend programs, not the society but him personally”.