Prevalence of comorbid conditions, surgeries, and medication use in a physical therapy outpatient population: a...

Prospective, multicenter, observational research study.

To investigate the prevalence of comorbidities and medical interventions in physical therapy outpatients and to establish a medical history profile of this population.

Little research exists that describes the medical history of individuals seeking physical therapy services. The presence of certain comorbid conditions could influence the therapist's examination, evaluation, choice of interventions, treatment outcomes, and choice of outcome measures.

Data were obtained from 2433 adults seeking care in 65 rehabilitation clinics located in 20 states. The clinics were located in major US geographic regions, and data were collected during each of the 4 seasons. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. The chi 2 test of independence was used for analysis of the association between the presence of disease and sex and geographic region.

Forty-two percent of the potential subjects (N = 2433) completed the questionnaire. Skin cancer was reported in 4.5% (N = 110) of the sample. Hypertension (21%, N = 506), depression (15%, N = 354), chronic sinus infection (15%, N = 372), and pneumonia (11%, N = 276) were among the most frequently cited illnesses. The most frequently noted surgeries were orthopaedic procedures (27%, N = 653) and hysterectomy (15%, N = 369), and anti-inflammatories (40%, N = 984) and narcotics (28%, N = 671) were the most commonly prescribed medications.

Many individuals seeking outpatient physical therapy services have extensive medical histories. Understanding the diseases, surgeries, and medications frequently encountered in practice is necessary for developing safe and appropriate interventions and establishing a reasonable prognosis.