The multifactorial nature of CLBP and its socioeconomic burden are well established. Psychological factors play a role in LBP chronicity and mental illness comorbidities are common in this population. Therefore, physiotherapists should be able to identify these factors and determine which patients are at a greater risk. However, the existing literature shows inconsistent results regarding this matter.
49 CLBP patients between 18-65 years old and 20 physiotherapists participated in the study. The therapists’ perceptions of a patient’s levels of distress, depression, anxiety and kinesiophobia were measured and correlated with patient-reported outcomes. Therapists also rated their competence in managing patients on a 0 to 10 scale.
Physiotherapists showed unsatisfactory (41%) accuracy in allocating patients into risk stratification groups or identifying psychological factors.
Patient-reported distress was found to be a negative predictor of therapist self-reported competence in managing CLBP.
These results show better therapist training is needed to deal with this population.
> From: Brenner et al., Phys Ther 98 (2018) 471-479 (Epub ahead of print). All rights reserved to Oxford University Press. Click here for the online summary.
