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El-Khoury J1, Orozco T1, Bernatsky S2, Desmeules F3, Perreault K4, Woodhouse L5, Feldman D6
1Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada, 2McGill University, Montreal, Canada, 3Hopital Maisonneuve-Rosemont, Montréal, Canada, 4Université Laval, Québec, Canada, 5University of Alberta, Alberta, Canada, 6Université de Montréal, Montreal, Canada
Background: Osteoarthritis (OA) is a very common disease among adults with one Canadian in eight (13%) reportedly affected in 2011. Knee OA is among the most common types of OA.
Purpose: To document types of treatments Quebec physiotherapists (PTs) use for a patient with knee osteoarthritis (OA), to assess whether treatment choices are consistent with current practice guidelines, and to explore factors associated with using certain treatments.
Methods: We sent questionnaires to PTs in Quebec via licensing bodies and through social media contacts. Respondents were asked about which treatments they would use for a typical case of knee OA. We used descriptive statistics to determine proportions of PTs choosing each treatment and explored associations between use of treatments and demographic factors.
Results: There were 298 Quebec PTs who responded to the questionnaire, the majority of whom were female (77.3%). The most common treatment choices were mobility exercises (96.4%) followed by education (93.8%), strengthening exercises (85.1%), thermotherapy and/or cryotherapy (72.3%), manual therapy (53.3%), and electrotherapy (42.1%). Selecting electrotherapy and manual therapy were highly associated with working in private practice.
Conclusion(s): The great majority of PTs included mobility and/or strengthening exercises, which both represent the most recommended treatment approaches in knee OA. PTs in private practice were more likely to also select manual therapy and electrotherapy. Recommendation updates may be especially useful for PTs working in private practice.
Implications: The great majority of Quebec PTs use mobility and/or strengthening exercises in their treatment choices for knee OA, which concurs with current guidelines. Manual therapy and electrotherapy, both treatments with insufficient evidence, are more highly used in the private sector. Regular in-service education to update physiotherapists working in private practice on current recommendations based on evidence may be useful.
Keywords: Osteoarthritis, Knee, Clinical Practice Guidelines, Treatment approaches
Funding acknowledgements: Canadian Initiative for Outcomes in Rheumatology Care (CIORA) and the PRogramme d'Excellence en Médecine pour l'Initiation En Recherche (PREMIER).
Purpose: To document types of treatments Quebec physiotherapists (PTs) use for a patient with knee osteoarthritis (OA), to assess whether treatment choices are consistent with current practice guidelines, and to explore factors associated with using certain treatments.
Methods: We sent questionnaires to PTs in Quebec via licensing bodies and through social media contacts. Respondents were asked about which treatments they would use for a typical case of knee OA. We used descriptive statistics to determine proportions of PTs choosing each treatment and explored associations between use of treatments and demographic factors.
Results: There were 298 Quebec PTs who responded to the questionnaire, the majority of whom were female (77.3%). The most common treatment choices were mobility exercises (96.4%) followed by education (93.8%), strengthening exercises (85.1%), thermotherapy and/or cryotherapy (72.3%), manual therapy (53.3%), and electrotherapy (42.1%). Selecting electrotherapy and manual therapy were highly associated with working in private practice.
Conclusion(s): The great majority of PTs included mobility and/or strengthening exercises, which both represent the most recommended treatment approaches in knee OA. PTs in private practice were more likely to also select manual therapy and electrotherapy. Recommendation updates may be especially useful for PTs working in private practice.
Implications: The great majority of Quebec PTs use mobility and/or strengthening exercises in their treatment choices for knee OA, which concurs with current guidelines. Manual therapy and electrotherapy, both treatments with insufficient evidence, are more highly used in the private sector. Regular in-service education to update physiotherapists working in private practice on current recommendations based on evidence may be useful.
Keywords: Osteoarthritis, Knee, Clinical Practice Guidelines, Treatment approaches
Funding acknowledgements: Canadian Initiative for Outcomes in Rheumatology Care (CIORA) and the PRogramme d'Excellence en Médecine pour l'Initiation En Recherche (PREMIER).
Topic: Musculoskeletal: lower limb
Ethics approval required: Yes
Institution: Université de Montréal
Ethics committee: CERES
Ethics number: 17-137-CERES-D
All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.
