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Toronto, AL M5N 2M7
Ph: 416-483-2654
Fax: 416-483-2654
christian@orthogate.com






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My wife is having some disc problems in the lumbar spine. Her orthopedic surgeon has suggested trying some physical therapy before thinking about surgery. There are several clinics in our area. Should we go for the clinic with the most experienced therapists? Or is it better to see someone who specializes in back pain no matter how long they've been at it?

A recent study came out analyzing the organizational and service delivery factors related to quality of care by physical therapists when treating low back pain patients. They asked these questions:
  • Does it matter if you see a physical therapist versus a physical therapist assistant for treatment of your low back pain (LBP)?
  • Do you need to see a specialist within the physical therapy field? For example, is it better to see someone who has expert training in the treatment of low back pain? Or can a generalist help you get the same good results? They looked at whether the practice setting was linked with outcomes. They identified service delivery that had the best results. Service delivery referred to who saw the patient and how much time was spent with each one. And they considered whether or not the number of staff members at each clinic made a difference. The researchers also looked at a variety of other factors. Size of the professional staff, ratio of physical therapists to physical therapist assistants, years of experience, and level of training were considered. Volume of patients seen in each clinic by each therapist was calculated. The portion of this made up of low back pain patients was also figured. Amount of time spent with individual patients by each therapist or assistant was reported. These last two variables made up a category called measure of utilization. What they found was that patients who saw a physical therapist assistant had the worst results. Patients who saw the therapist had the best results. The more patients with LBP seen at the clinic, the better the results. And the number of visits was lower when patients were treated by the physical therapist (versus the assistant).

  • References:

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