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Patient experiences with physiotherapy for knee osteoarthritis in Australia—a qualitative study

Dziedzic

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Abstract

Objective Physiotherapists commonly provide non-surgical care for people with knee osteoarthritis (OA). It is unknown if patients are receiving high-quality physiotherapy care for their knee OA. This study aimed to explore the experiences of people who had recently received physiotherapy care for their knee OA in Australia and how these experiences aligned with the national Clinical Care Standard for knee OA. Design Qualitative study using semistructured individual telephone interviews and thematic analysis, where themes/subthemes were inductively derived. Questions were informed by seven quality statements of the OA of the Knee Clinical Care Standard. Interview data were also deductively analysed according to the Standard. Setting Participants were recruited from around Australia via Facebook and our research volunteer database. Participants Interviews were conducted with 24 people with recent experience receiving physiotherapy care for their knee OA. They were required to be aged 45 years or above, had activity-related knee pain and any knee-related morning stiffness lasted no longer than 30 min. Participants were excluded if they had self-reported inflammatory arthritis and/or had undergone knee replacement surgery for the affected knee. Results Six themes emerged: (1) presented with a pre-existing OA diagnosis (prior OA care from other health professionals; perception of adequate OA knowledge); (2) wide variation in access and provision of physiotherapy care (referral pathways; funding models; individual vs group sessions); (3) seeking physiotherapy care for pain and functional limitations (knee symptoms; functional problems); (4) physiotherapy management focused on function and exercise (assessment of function; various types of exercises prescribed; surgery, medications and injections are for doctors; adjunctive treatments); (5) professional and personalised care (trust and/or confidence; personalised care) and (6) physiotherapy to postpone or prepare for surgery. Conclusion Patients' experiences with receiving physiotherapy care for their knee OA were partly aligned with the standard, particularly regarding comprehensive assessment, self-management, and exercise.

Acceptance Date Feb 24, 2021
Publication Date Mar 8, 2021
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal BMJ Open
Publisher BMJ Publishing Group
Pages e043689 - e043689
DOI https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2020-043689
Keywords adult orthopaedics; musculoskeletal disorders; qualitative research
Publisher URL https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/11/3/e043689