Choosing Wisely Brazil: top 5 low-value practices that should be avoided in musculoskeletal physical therapy

The Choosing Wisely initiative aims to promote discussions among healthcare professionals and patients about low-value, or potentially harmful, health practices.

To describe the process of development of the Brazilian Choosing Wisely list for musculoskeletal physical therapy.

The Brazilian Choosing Wisely list was developed in accordance with the recommendations of the American Board of Internal Medicine. A three-step procedure was used. First, an expert panel was selected, and a modified Delphi approach was used to obtain a list of evidence-based statements. Second, members of the research team performed content analysis. Third, a national survey was conducted to present selected statements to a sample of physical therapists. Participants were invited to vote considering the level of importance of selected statements for physical therapists and patients.

The expert panel comprised 17 physical therapists. The median age of the expert panel was 33 [interquartile range (IQR) 29 to 37; range 26 to 60] years and the median length of professional experience was 12 (IQR 10 to 18) years. A list of eight recommendations was presented to a national sample composed of 1127 physical therapists. The median length of professional experience of the national sample was 10 (IQR 5 to 15) years. Based on the number of votes, the five most important recommendations were included in the Brazilian Choosing Wisely list for musculoskeletal physical therapy. Descriptive and frequency analysis were used to report the results.

The Brazilian Choosing Wisely list for musculoskeletal physical therapy provides an opportunity for physical therapists, patients, society and policy makers to collaboratively discuss tests and treatments that are unnecessary or potentially harmful.