Patient-reported outcome measurements (PROMs): Use during the physical therapy practice and associated factors

Emilia Otero-Ketterer; Cecilia Peñacoba-Puente; Juan Antonio Valera-Calero; Fernando Galán-Del-Río; Ricardo Ortega-Santiago

doi:10.1016/j.msksp.2023.102744

Patient-reported outcome measurements (PROMs): Use during the physical therapy practice and associated factors

Musculoskelet Sci Pract. 2023 Apr:64:102744. doi: 10.1016/j.msksp.2023.102744. Epub 2023 Mar 10.

Authors

Emilia Otero-Ketterer¹, Cecilia Peñacoba-Puente², Juan Antonio Valera-Calero³, Fernando Galán-Del-Río⁴, Ricardo Ortega-Santiago⁵

Affiliations

¹ Escuela Internacional de Doctorado, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Alcorcón, Spain; Physiotherapy Department, Mutua Universal Mugenat, Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: eoteroke@mutuauniversal.net.
² Department of Psychology, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Alcorcón, Spain. Electronic address: cecilia.penacoba@urjc.es.
³ Department of Radiology, Rehabilitation and Physiotherapy, Faculty of Nursery, Physiotherapy and Podiatry, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040, Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: juavaler@ucm.es.
⁴ Department of Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Alcorcón, Spain. Electronic address: fernando.galandel@urjc.es.
⁵ Department of Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Alcorcón, Spain; Cátedra Institucional en Docencia, Clínica e Investigación en Fisioterapia, Alcorcón, Spain; Terapia Manual, Punción Seca y Ejercicio Terapéutico, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Alcorcón, Spain. Electronic address: ricardo.ortega@urjc.es.

PMID: 36913901
DOI: 10.1016/j.msksp.2023.102744

Abstract

Objective: To assess the current level of routine use of psychosocial-related patient-reported outcome measurements (PROMs) in physical therapy practice and which physical therapist-level factors are associated with the use of these measurement instruments.

Methods: We conducted an online survey study among Spanish physical therapists involved in the treatment of LBP patients in Public Health Service, Mutual Insurance Companies, and private practice during 2020. Descriptive analyses were conducted for reporting the number and instruments utilized. Thus, sociodemographic and professional features differences between PTs using and not using PROM were analyzed.

Results: From 485 physiotherapists completing the questionnaire nationwide, 484 were included. A minority of therapists routinely used psychosocial-related PROMs (13.8%) in LBP patients and only 6.8% did so through standardized measurements instruments. The Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia (28.8%) and the Pain Catastrophizing Scale (15.1%) were used most frequently. Physiotherapists working in Andalucía and País Vasco regions, in private practice environments, educated in psychosocial factors evaluation and management, considering psychosocial factors during the clinical practice and expecting patients' collaborative attitudes demonstrated significantly greater use of PROMS (p < 0.05).

Conclusions: This study showed that the majority of physiotherapists in Spain do not use PROMs for evaluating LBP (86.2%). From those physiotherapists using PROMs, approximately the half use validated instruments such as the Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia or the Pain Catastrophizing Scale while the other half limit their evaluation to anamnesis and non-validated questionnaires. Therefore, developing effective strategies to implement and facilitate the use of psychosocial-related PROMs would enhance the evaluation during the clinical practice.

Keywords: Clinical practice; Low back pain; Patient-reported outcome measurement; Physiotherapy.

MeSH terms

Catastrophization / psychology
Humans
Low Back Pain* / psychology
Patient Reported Outcome Measures
Physical Therapists*
Physical Therapy Modalities