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Adherence to Back Pain Clinical Practice Guidelines by Brazilian Physical Therapists: A Cross-sectional Study
Fabrício S de Souza1, Carlos E Ladeira2, Leonardo O P Costa1,3
1Master's and Doctoral Programs in Physical Therapy, Universidade Cidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
Spine
|April 12, 2017
Summary
Brazilian physical therapists show low adherence to clinical practice guidelines for low back pain management. Wider dissemination of these evidence-based guidelines is crucial for improving patient care and outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Physical Therapy
- Clinical Decision-Making
- Evidence-Based Practice
Background:
- Low back pain (LBP) poses significant healthcare costs and impacts recovery.
- Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) aim to optimize LBP management.
- Current adherence of Brazilian physical therapists to CPGs for LBP is not well-documented.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess Brazilian physical therapists' adherence to LBP clinical practice guidelines.
- To evaluate their ability to recognize red flag and yellow flag indicators in LBP cases.
Main Methods:
- Cross-sectional observational study involving 189 physical therapists from Brazilian associations.
- Data collected via electronic surveys and face-to-face interviews using six hypothetical LBP clinical cases.
- Analysis of adherence categorized as full, partial, or no adherence to CPG recommendations.
Main Results:
- Low rates of full adherence to CPGs across all cases (5%-24%).
- Partial adherence was more common (32%-75%).
- Physical therapists demonstrated better recognition of yellow flags than red flags.
Conclusions:
- Brazilian physical therapists exhibit suboptimal use of evidence-based guidelines in LBP clinical practice.
- There is an urgent need for improved dissemination and implementation of LBP CPGs in Brazil.