TY - JOUR
T1 - The knowledge of low back pain management between physical therapists and family practice physicians
AU - Ross, Michael
AU - Adams, Kurtis
AU - Engle, Kara
AU - Enser, Travis
AU - Muehlemann, Allyson
AU - Schenk, Ron
AU - Tall, Michael
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2018, © 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2018/10/20
Y1 - 2018/10/20
N2 - Objectives: The purpose of this study was to compare knowledge in managing patients with low back pain (LBP) between physical therapists and family practice physicians. Methods: Seventy-three physical therapists and 30 family practice physicians completed standardized examinations assessing knowledge, attitudes, the usefulness of clinical practice guidelines, and management strategies for patients with LBP. Beliefs of physical therapists and family practice physicians about LBP were compared using relative risks and independent t-tests. Results: Scores related to knowledge, attitudes, and the usefulness of clinical practice guidelines were generally similar between the groups. In addition, there was no difference between the groups for knowledge regarding optimal management strategies for patients with LBP. However, physical therapists were less likely to have difficulty assessing motivation levels of patients with LBP compared to family practice physicians (64.6% vs 26.7%; relative risk: 2.41 [95% confidence interval: 1.30–4.48] and physical therapists were less likely to agree that interventions by health care providers have little positive effect on the natural history of acute LBP (17.8% vs. 50.0%; relative risk: 0.36 [95% confidence interval: 0.19–0.66]). Discussion: The results of this study may have implications for third-party payers and health care administrators regarding the utilization of physical therapists in the management of patients with LBP in expanded scopes of practice, including direct access and potential placement in primary care clinics.
AB - Objectives: The purpose of this study was to compare knowledge in managing patients with low back pain (LBP) between physical therapists and family practice physicians. Methods: Seventy-three physical therapists and 30 family practice physicians completed standardized examinations assessing knowledge, attitudes, the usefulness of clinical practice guidelines, and management strategies for patients with LBP. Beliefs of physical therapists and family practice physicians about LBP were compared using relative risks and independent t-tests. Results: Scores related to knowledge, attitudes, and the usefulness of clinical practice guidelines were generally similar between the groups. In addition, there was no difference between the groups for knowledge regarding optimal management strategies for patients with LBP. However, physical therapists were less likely to have difficulty assessing motivation levels of patients with LBP compared to family practice physicians (64.6% vs 26.7%; relative risk: 2.41 [95% confidence interval: 1.30–4.48] and physical therapists were less likely to agree that interventions by health care providers have little positive effect on the natural history of acute LBP (17.8% vs. 50.0%; relative risk: 0.36 [95% confidence interval: 0.19–0.66]). Discussion: The results of this study may have implications for third-party payers and health care administrators regarding the utilization of physical therapists in the management of patients with LBP in expanded scopes of practice, including direct access and potential placement in primary care clinics.
KW - Low back pain
KW - direct access practice
KW - management strategies
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U2 - 10.1080/10669817.2018.1500772
DO - 10.1080/10669817.2018.1500772
M3 - Article
C2 - 30455553
AN - SCOPUS:85052126679
SN - 1066-9817
VL - 26
SP - 264
EP - 271
JO - Journal of Manual and Manipulative Therapy
JF - Journal of Manual and Manipulative Therapy
IS - 5
ER -