Clinical Decision Trees to Guide Physical Therapy Management of Persons with Huntington's Disease

In 2020, our group published physical therapy clinical practice guidelines (CPG) for people with Huntington's disease (HD). The guideline recommendations were categorized according to six primary movement impairment classifications.

To facilitate implementation of this CPG, we have developed guideline-based algorithms for physical therapy assessments and interventions and recommendations for therapists to overcome barriers to CPG implementation for people with HD.

We conducted a literature review of papers that evaluated physical therapy interventions in individuals with HD (n = 26) to identify assessments for each of the primary movement impairment classifications, and then searched for papers (n = 28) that reported their clinometric/psychometric properties in HD. Assessments were evaluated using modified Movement Disorder Society Committee on Rating Scales criteria and other relevant criteria.

We identified a "core set" of physical therapy assessments for persons with HD, including the Six Minute Walk Test, Timed Up and Go Test, Berg Balance Scale, and the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form 36 (SF-36). We then developed guideline-based decision trees to assist in decision making and implementation of the CPG into practice for persons with HD across the continuum of care. Finally, we developed strategies for overcoming barriers to implementation, such as seeking specialized training in HD, engaging caretakers or family members to help the person with HD to exercise, and establishing clinical pathways that support early physical therapy referrals.

Knowledge translation documents such as this are essential to promoting implementation of the physical therapy CPGs into clinical practice.