One in six physiotherapy practices in primary care offer musculoskeletal ultrasound - an explorative survey.

BACKGROUND: The first aim of this research was to investigate the current prevalence of musculoskeletal ultrasound in Dutch physiotherapy practices. The second aim was to explore experiences of physiotherapists with musculoskeletal ultrasound in a primary care setting with patients presenting with shoulder complaints. METHODS: A random sample of 1000 owners of primary care physiotherapy practices was sent a questionnaire to investigate the prevalence of musculoskeletal ultrasound. A second questionnaire was sent to physiotherapists using musculoskeletal ultrasound to explore experiences with it in patients with shoulder complaints. RESULTS: The net response rate of the first questionnaire was 57.7%. In 18% of the physiotherapy practices musculoskeletal ultrasound was offered. Sixty-nine physiotherapists returned the second questionnaire. Physiotherapists indicated they most often used musculoskeletal ultrasound in patients with shoulder complaints, mainly for suspected tissue damage (83.7%), followed by making a diagnosis (63.3%) and for determining the choice of treatment (36.7%). Physiotherapists reported the biggest advantage was that they were better able to diagnose presenting shoulder complaints. The most frequently mentioned disadvantage of the use of musculoskeletal ultrasound was that assessment is difficult and that there is a risk that findings may not be sufficiently linked to history and physical examination. CONCLUSION: One in six physiotherapy practices in the Netherlands offer musculoskeletal ultrasound. It is mainly used for patients with shoulder complaints, with an emphasis on detecting tissue damage and as an aid for diagnosis. Physiotherapists trained to work with musculoskeletal ultrasound seem enthusiastic and are at the same time aware of its disadvantages.

Do therapist effects determine outcome in patients with shoulder pain in a primary care physiotherapy setting?

OBJECTIVES: To explore whether a therapist effect exists in physiotherapists treating patients with shoulder pain and to identify if personality traits of the physiotherapist influences patients outcome. DESIGN: Observational cohort study. SETTING: Primary care physiotherapy practices. PARTICIPANTS: Data on patients with shoulder complaints that started and finished treatment between 2009 and 2012 were derived from the NIVEL Primary Care Database. Personality traits of the physiotherapist were identified using the Big Five Inventory. Data of 2814 patients and 56 physiotherapists were analysed using multi level linear regression. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Severity of complaint was measured on a 10-point Likert scale at the start and end of treatment. Change score is used as outcome. RESULTS: A therapist effect exists in the rehabilitation of patients with shoulder complaints in a physiotherapy setting; the physiotherapist explained 12% of variance and the personality trait extraversion showed a significant association (P=0.03) with change in treatment outcome. CONCLUSION: Current explorative study suggests that patients who were treated by therapists that tend to be more outgoing and energetic achieved better treatment results. Additional studies are needed to unravel the interplay between personality traits and other variables of importance, like patients' personality traits or psychological factors, in treating patients with shoulder complaints.

Understanding the use of email consultation in primary care using a retrospective observational study with data of Dutch electronic health records.

OBJECTIVES: It is unclear why the use of email consultation is not more widespread in Dutch general practice, particularly because, since 2006, its costs can be reimbursed. To encourage further implementation, it is needed to understand the current use of email consultations. This study aims to understand the use of email consultation by different patient groups, compared with other general practice (GP) consultations. SETTING: For this retrospective observational study, we used Dutch routine electronic health record data obtained from NIVEL Primary Care Database for the years 2010 and 2014. PARTICIPANTS: 200 general practices were included in 2010 (734 122 registered patients) and 434 in 2014 (1 630 386 registered patients). PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURES: The number and percentage of email consultations and patient characteristics (age, gender, neighbourhood socioeconomic status and diagnoses) of email consultation users were investigated and compared with those who had a telephone or face-to-face consultation. General practice characteristics were also taken into account. RESULTS: 32.0% of the Dutch general practices had at least one email consultation in 2010, rising to 52.8% in 2014. In 2014, only 0.7% of the GP consultations were by email (the others comprised home visits, telephone and face-to-face consultations). Its use highly varied among general practices. Most email consultations were done for psychological (14.7%); endocrine, metabolic and nutritional (10.9%); and circulatory (10.7%) problems. These diagnosis categories appeared less frequently in telephone and face-to-face consultations. Patients who had an email consultation were older than patients who had a telephone or face-to-face consultation. In contrast, patients with diabetes who had an email consultation were younger. CONCLUSION: Even though email consultation was done in half the general practices in the Netherlands in 2014, the actual use of it is extremely low. Patients who had an email consultation differ from those who had a telephone or face-to-face consultation. In addition, the use of email consultation by patients is dependent on its provision by GPs.

Overweight in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease needs more attention: a cross-sectional study in general practice.

Guidelines for management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) primarily focus on the prevention of weight loss, while overweight and obesity are highly prevalent in patients with milder stages of COPD. This cross-sectional study examines the association of overweight and obesity with the prevalence of comorbid disorders and prescribed medication for obstructive airway disease, in patients with mild to moderate COPD. Data were used from electronic health records of 380 Dutch general practices in 2014. In total, we identified 4938 patients with mild or moderate COPD based on spirometry data, and a recorded body mass index (BMI) of ≥21 kg/m2. Outcomes in overweight (BMI ≥ 25 and <30 kg/m2) and obese (BMI ≥30 kg/m2) patients with COPD were compared to those with a normal weight (BMI ≥ 21 and <25 kg/m2), by logistic multilevel analyses. Compared to COPD patients with a normal weight, positive associations were found for diabetes, osteoarthritis, and hypertension, for both overweight (OR: 1.4-1.7) and obese (OR: 2.4-3.8) patients, and for heart failure in obese patients (OR: 2.3). Osteoporosis was less prevalent in overweight (OR: 0.7) and obese (OR: 0.5) patients, and anxiety disorders in obese patients (OR: 0.5). No associations were found for coronary heart disease, stroke, sleep disturbance, depression, and pneumonia. Furthermore, obese patients were in general more often prescribed medication for obstructive airway disease compared to patients with a normal weight. The findings of this study underline the need to increase awareness in general practitioners for excess weight in patients with mild to moderate COPD.

Self-monitoring of health data by patients with a chronic disease: does disease controllability matter?

BACKGROUND: There is a growing emphasis on self-monitoring applications that allow patients to measure their own physical health parameters. A prerequisite for achieving positive effects is patients' willingness to self-monitor. The controllability of disease types, patients' perceived self-efficacy and health problems could play an essential role in this. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between patients' willingness to self-monitor and a range of disease and patient specific variables including controllability of disease type, patients' perceived self-efficacy and health problems. METHODS: Data regarding 627 participants with 17 chronic somatic disease types from a Dutch panel of people with chronic diseases have been used for this cross-sectional study. Perceived self-efficacy was assessed using the general self-efficacy scale, perceived health problems using the Physical Health Composite Score (PCS). Participants indicated their willingness to self-monitor. An expert panel assessed for 17 chronic disease types the extent to which patients can independently keep their disease in control. Logistic regression analyses were conducted. RESULTS: Patients' willingness to self-monitor differs greatly among disease types: patients with diabetes (71.0%), asthma (59.6%) and hypertension (59.1%) were most willing to self-monitor. In contrast, patients with rheumatism (40.0%), migraine (41.2%) and other neurological disorders (42.9%) were less willing to self-monitor. It seems that there might be a relationship between disease controllability scores and patients' willingness to self-monitor. No evidence is found of a relationship between general self-efficacy and PCS scores, and patients' willingness to self-monitor. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides the first evidence that patients' willingness to self-monitor might be associated with disease controllability. Further research should investigate this association more deeply and should focus on how disease controllability influences willingness to self-monitor. In addition, since willingness to self-monitor differed greatly among patient groups, it should be taken into account that not all patient groups are willing to self-monitor.

Factors Associated With Referral to Secondary Care in Patients With Osteoarthritis of the Hip or Knee After Implementation of a Stepped-Care Strategy.

OBJECTIVE: We introduced a stepped-care strategy (SCS) for hip and knee osteoarthritis, focusing on delivery of high-quality stepped care. In this study, we aimed to identify factors associated with various steps of the SCS. METHODS: We used data from a 2-year observational prospective cohort study, including 313 patients visiting their general practitioner (GP) with a new episode of hip/knee osteoarthritis. We used logistic multilevel analyses to identify factors at the level of the patient, the GP, and the general practice, related to treatment limited to primary care, referral to nonsurgical secondary care, or surgical procedures. RESULTS: Patients whose treatment had been limited to primary care tended to function physically better (odds ratio [OR] 1.03). Furthermore, they less often received exercise therapy (OR 0.46), intraarticular injections (OR 0.08), and radiologic assessments (OR 0.06). Continuation of nonsurgical care after referral was more likely in employed patients (OR 2.90) and patients who had no exercise therapy (OR 0.19) or nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (OR 0.35). Surgically treated patients more often received exercise therapy (OR 7.42). Referral and surgical treatment depended only to a limited extent on the GP or the general practice. CONCLUSION: After implementation of the SCS in primary care, the performance of exercise therapy, rather than disease severity or psychologic factors, seems to play a key role in the decision whether or not to refer for surgical or nonsurgical treatment in secondary care. To optimize patient-tailored treatment, future research should be adressed to determine the optimal moment of switching from primary to secondary care in patients with hip/knee osteoarthritis.

Expectations and needs of patients with a chronic disease toward self-management and eHealth for self-management purposes.

BACKGROUND: Self-management is considered as an essential component of chronic care by primary care professionals. eHealth is expected to play an important role in supporting patients in their self-management. For effective implementation of eHealth it is important to investigate patients' expectations and needs regarding self-management and eHealth. The objectives of this study are to investigate expectations and needs of people with a chronic condition regarding self-management and eHealth for self-management purposes, their willingness to use eHealth, and possible differences between patient groups regarding these topics. METHODS: Five focus groups with people with diabetes (n = 14), COPD (n = 9), and a cardiovascular condition (n = 7) were conducted in this qualitative research. Separate focus groups were organized based on patients' chronic condition. The following themes were discussed: 1) the impact of the chronic disease on patients' daily life; 2) their opinions and needs regarding self-management; and 3) their expectations and needs regarding, and willingness to use, eHealth for self-management purposes. A conventional content analysis approach was used for coding. RESULTS: Patient groups seem to differ in expectations and needs regarding self-management and eHealth for self-management purposes. People with diabetes reported most needs and benefits regarding self-management and were most willing to use eHealth, followed by the COPD group. People with a cardiovascular condition mentioned having fewer needs for self-management support, because their disease had little impact on their life. In all patient groups it was reported that the patient, not the care professional, should choose whether or not to use eHealth. Moreover, participants reported that eHealth should not replace, but complement personal care. Many participants reported expecting feelings of anxiety by doing measurement themselves and uncertainty about follow-up of deviant data of measurements. In addition, many participants worried about the implementation of eHealth being a consequence of budget cuts in care. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that aspects of eHealth, and the way in which it should be implemented, should be tailored to the patient. Patients' expected benefits of using eHealth to support self-management and their perceived controllability over their disease seem to play an important role in patients' willingness to use eHealth for self-management purposes.

Exploring physiotherapists' personality traits that may influence treatment outcome in patients with chronic diseases: a cohort study.

BACKGROUND: During treatment of patients with Chronic Diseases (CD) the therapist-patient interaction is often intense, and the strategies used during treatment require physiotherapists to assume a coaching role. Uncovering therapist factors that explain inter-therapist variation might provide tools to improve treatment outcome and to train future therapists. The purpose of this study was to explore the so-called 'therapist-effect', by looking at the influence of intrinsic therapist factors, specifically personality traits, on treatment outcome in patients with CD. METHODS: A cohort study was performed using data from the NIVEL Primary Care Database (NPCD) in 2011-2012 and an additional questionnaire. Patients with CD (n = 393) treated by Dutch physiotherapists working in outpatient practices (n = 39) were included. Patient and treatment outcome variables were extracted from NPCD. The course of complaint was measured using the Numeric Rating Scale. Therapist variables were measured using a questionnaire consisting of demographics and the Big Five traits: Extraversion, Neuroticism, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness and Openness to experiences. Data were analysed using multilevel linear regression. RESULTS: Only Neuroticism was found to be significant (Neuroticism F = 0.71, P = 0.01; therapist gender F = 0.72, P = 0.03; life events F = -0.54, P = 0.09; patient gender F = -0.43, P = 0.10; patient age F = 0.01, P = 0.27). Subgroup analyses of 180 patients with Osteoarthritis and 30 therapists showed similar results. CONCLUSIONS: There are indications that patients with CD who are treated by therapists who tend to be calmer, more relaxed, secure and resilient have a greater reduction in severity of complaints compared to patients treated by therapists who show less of these traits. Being a male therapist and having experienced life events influence outcome positively. However, more extensive research is needed to validate the current findings.

Pain intensity, neck pain and longer duration of complaints predict poorer outcome in patients with shoulder pain--a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Shoulder complaints are common and have an unfavourable prognosis in many patients. Prognostic information is helpful for both patients and clinicians in managing the complaints. The research question was which factors have prognostic value on (un)favourable outcome in patients with shoulder complaints in primary care, secondary care and occupational settings. METHODS: Update of a systematic review in primary care, secondary care and occupational settings. RESULTS: Nine articles were published since the original review in 2004. Six were of high quality covering a wide variety of prognostic factors and outcome measures. Four studies were conducted in primary care settings. A best evidence synthesis, including the results of the previous systematic review on this topic shows that there is strong evidence that higher shoulder pain intensity, concomitant neck pain and a longer duration of symptoms predict poorer outcome in primary care settings. In secondary care populations, strong evidence was found for the association between greater disability and poorer outcome and between the existence of previous shoulder pain and poorer outcome. CONCLUSION: Clinicians may take these factors into account in the management of their patients. Those with a worse prognosis may be monitored more frequently and the treatment plan modified if complaints persist.

An overview of 5 years of patient self-referral for physical therapy in the Netherlands.

BACKGROUND: Self-referral for physical therapy was introduced in 2006 in the Netherlands. Internationally, debate on self-referral is still ongoing. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of self-referral for physical therapy in the Netherlands, focusing on volume of general practice and physical therapy care (incidence rates and utilization of services). DESIGN: The study was based on monitoring data from existing data sources. METHODS: Longitudinal electronic medical record data from general practitioners (GPs) and physical therapists participating in the NIVEL Primary Care Database were used, as well as public data from Statistics Netherlands. Descriptive statistics and Poisson multilevel regression analyses were used for analyzing the data. RESULTS: Incidence rates of back (including low back), shoulder, and neck pain in general practice declined slightly from 2004 to 2009. No linear trends were found for number of contacts in GP care for back (including low back) and neck pain. The number of patients visiting physical therapists and the proportion of self-referrers are growing. Self-referrers receive treatment less often after initial intake than referred patients, and the mean number of visits is lower. LIMITATIONS: This study was based on data of various patient populations from existing data sources. CONCLUSIONS: The current study indicates that self-referral in the Netherlands has fulfilled most expectations held prior to its introduction, although no changes to the workload of GP care have been found. Use of physical therapy grew, but due to population aging and increasing prevalence of chronic diseases, it remains unclear whether self-referral affects health care utilization. Therefore, cost-benefit analyses are recommended.

Overweight and obese adults have low intentions of seeking weight-related care: a cross-sectional survey.

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of obesity is growing worldwide. Obesity guidelines recommend increasing the level of weight-related care for persons with elevated levels of weight-related health risk (WRHR). However, there seems to be a discrepancy between need for and use of weight-related care. The primary aim of this study is to examine predisposing factors that may influence readiness to lose weight and intention to use weight-related care in an overweight population. METHODS: A population-based, cross-sectional survey was conducted. Data were collected using an online self-administered questionnaire sent to a population-representative sample of 1,500 Dutch adults on the Health Care Consumer Panel (n = 861 responded). Data were used from individuals (n = 445) with a mildly, moderately or severely elevated level of WRHR. WRHR status was based on self-reported data on Body Mass Index, risk assessment for diabetes mellitus type 2 (DM2) and cardiovascular disease (CVD), or co-morbidities. RESULTS: 55.1% of persons with increased WRHR were ready to lose weight (n = 245). Depending on level of WRHR; educational level, marital status, individuals with an accurate perception of their weight and better perceptions and expectations of dietitians were significantly related to readiness to lose weight. Most of them preferred individual weight-loss methods (82.0% of n = 245). 11% (n = 26 of n = 245) intended to use weight-related care. Weight-related care seeking was higher for those with moderate or severe WRHR. Expectations and trust in dietitians did not seem to influence care seeking. CONCLUSIONS: Many Dutch adults who are medically in need of weight-related care are ready to lose weight. Most intend to lose weight individually, and only a few intend to use weight-related care. Therefore, obesity prevention initiatives should focus on monitoring weight change and weight-loss plans, and timely referral to obesity management. However, many people are not ready to lose weight. For this group, strategies for behaviour change may depend on WRHR, perceptions of weight and dietitians, educational level and marital status. Obesity prevention initiatives should focus on increasing the awareness of the seriousness of their condition and offering individually appropriate weight management programmes.

Direct access to physical therapy for patients with low back pain in the Netherlands: prevalence and predictors.

BACKGROUND: In the Netherlands, direct access to physical therapy was introduced in 2006. Although many patients with back pain visit physical therapists through direct access, the frequency and characteristics of episodes of care are unknown. OBJECTIVE: The purposes of this study were: (1) to investigate the prevalence of direct access to physical therapy for patients with low back pain in the Netherlands from 2006 to 2009, (2) to examine associations between mode of access (direct versus referral) and patient characteristics, and (3) to describe the severity of the back complaints at the beginning and end of treatment for direct access and referral-based physical therapy. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study was conducted using registration data of physical therapists obtained from a longitudinal study. METHOD: Data were used from the National Information Service for Allied Health Care, a registration network of Dutch physical therapists. Mode of access (direct or referral) was registered for each episode of physical therapy care due to back pain from 2006 to 2009. Logistic regression analysis was used to explore associations between mode of access and patient/clinical characteristics. RESULTS: The percentage of episodes of care for which patients with back pain directly accessed a physical therapist increased from 28.9% in 2006 to 52.1% in 2009. Characteristics associated with direct access were: middle or higher education level (odds ratio [OR]=1.3 and 2.0, respectively), previous physical therapy care (OR=1.7), recurrent back pain (OR=1.7), duration of back pain <7 days (OR=4.2), and age >55 years (OR=0.6). LIMITATIONS: The study could not compare outcomes of physical therapy care by mode of access because this information was not registered from the beginning of data collection and, therefore, was missing for too many cases. CONCLUSIONS: Direct access was used for an increasing percentage of episodes of physical therapy care in the years 2006 to 2009. Patient/clinical characteristics associated with the mode of access were education level, recurrent back pain, previous physical therapy sessions, and age.

Factors associated with the number of consultations per dietetic treatment: an observational study.

BACKGROUND: Greater understanding of the variance in the number of consultations per dietetic treatment will increase the transparency of dietetic healthcare. Substantial inter-practitioner variation may suggest a potential to increase efficiency and improve quality. It is not known whether inter-practitioner variation also exists in the field of dietetics. Therefore, the aims of this study are to examine inter-practitioner variation in the number of consultations per treatment and the case-mix factors that explain this variation. METHODS: For this observational study, data were used from the National Information Service for Allied Health Care (LiPZ). LiPZ is a Dutch registration network of allied health care professionals, including dietitians working in primary healthcare. Data were used from 6,496 patients who underwent dietetic treatment between 2006 and 2009, treated by 27 dietitians working in solo practices located throughout the Netherlands. Data collection was based on the long-term computerized registration of healthcare-related information on patients, reimbursement, treatment and health problems, using a regular software program for reimbursement. Poisson multilevel regression analyses were used to model the number of consultations and to account for the clustered structure of the data. RESULTS: After adjusting for case-mix, seven percent of the total variation in consultation sessions was due to dietitians. The mean number of consultations per treatment was 4.9 and ranged from 2.3-10.1 between dietitians. Demographic characteristics, patients' initiative and patients' health problems explained 28% of the inter-practitioner variation. Certain groups of patients used significantly more dietetic healthcare compared to others, i.e. older patients, females, the native Dutch, patients with a history of dietetic healthcare, patients who started the treatment on their own initiative, patients with multiple diagnoses, overweight, or binge eating disorder. CONCLUSIONS: Considerable variation in number of consultations per dietetic treatment is due to dietitians. Some of this inter-practitioner variation was reduced after adjusting for case-mix. Further research is necessary to study the relation between inter-practitioner variation and the effectiveness and quality of dietetic treatment.

The trend in total cost of back pain in The Netherlands in the period 2002 to 2007.

STUDY DESIGN: Cost of illness study. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the total costs of back pain in The Netherlands over the years 2002 to 2007. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: In 1991, the cost of back pain to the Dutch society was estimated at € 4.2 billion. In the last two decades, new laws regarding health insurance and sickness benefits and new guidelines for health care professionals have been introduced and may have affected the societal costs of back pain in The Netherlands. METHODS: We conducted a cost-of-illness study in which we gathered relevant available data from national registries, reports of research institutes, descriptive studies, and occupational health care authorities to estimate the total cost of back pain to the Dutch society for the years 2002 to 2007. RESULTS.: The total costs of back pain decreased from € 4.3 billion in 2002 to € 3.5 billion in 2007. The share of these costs was about 0.9% of the gross national product (GNP) in 2002 and 0.6% of GNP in 2007. The ratio between direct and indirect costs did not change noticeably over the years, that is, 12% for direct and 88% for indirect costs. CONCLUSIONS: The total societal costs of back pain have decreased since 1991 and also between 2002 and 2007. Although Dutch policy interventions to lower the indirect costs seem to be successful in the last decades, costs of back pain are still substantial, and indirect costs represent the majority of these costs. Policy interventions and implementation of cost-effective interventions focusing on return-to-work management for back pain in health care is important to further decrease the economic burden of back pain on society.

What part of the total care consumed by type 2 diabetes patients is directly related to diabetes? Implications for disease management programs.

BACKGROUND: Disease management programs (DMP) aim at improving coordination and quality of care and reducing healthcare costs for specific chronic diseases. This paper investigates to what extent total healthcare utilization of type 2 diabetes patients is actually related to diabetes and its implications for diabetes management programs. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Healthcare utilization for diabetes patients was analyzed using 2008 self-reported data (n=316) and data from electronic medical records (EMR) (n=9023), and divided whether or not care was described in the Dutch type 2 diabetes multidisciplinary healthcare standard. RESULTS: On average 4.3 different disciplines of healthcare providers were involved in the care for diabetes patients. Ninety-six percent contacted a GP-practice and 63% an ophthalmologist, 24% an internist, 32% a physiotherapist and 23% a dietician. Diabetes patients had on average 9.3 contacts with GP-practice of which 53% were included in the healthcare standard. Only a limited part of total healthcare utilization of diabetes patients was included in the healthcare standard and therefore theoretically included in DMPs. CONCLUSION: Organizing the care for diabetics in a DMP might harm the coordination and quality of all healthcare for diabetics. DMPs should be integrated in the overall organization of care.

Comparing patient characteristics and treatment processes in patients receiving physical therapy in the United States, Israel and the Netherlands: cross sectional analyses of data from three clinical databases.

BACKGROUND: Many assume that outcomes from physical therapy research in one country can be generalized to other countries. However, no well designed studies comparing outcomes among countries have been conducted. In this exploratory study, our goal was to compare patient demographics and treatment processes in outpatient physical therapy practice in the United States, Israel and the Netherlands. METHODS: Cross-sectional data from three different clinical databases were examined. Data were selected for patients aged 18 years and older and started an episode of outpatient therapy between January 1st 2005 and December 31st 2005. Results are based on data from approximately 63,000 patients from the United States, 100,000 from Israel and 12,000 from the Netherlands. RESULTS: Age, gender and the body part treated were similar in the three countries. Differences existed in episode duration of the health problem, with more patients with chronic complaints treated in the United States and Israel compared to the Netherlands. In the United States and Israel, physical agents and mechanical modalities were applied more often than in the Netherlands. The mean number of visits per treatment episode, adjusted for age, gender, and episode duration, varied from 8 in Israel to 11 in the United States and the Netherlands. CONCLUSION: The current study showed that clinical databases can be used for comparing patient demographic characteristics and for identifying similarities and differences among countries in physical therapy practice. However, terminology used to describe treatment processes and classify patients was different among databases. More standardisation is required to enable more detailed comparisons. Nevertheless the differences found in number of treatment visits per episode imply that one has to be careful to generalize outcomes from physical therapy research from one country to another.

Direct access to physical therapy in the Netherlands: results from the first year in community-based physical therapy.

BACKGROUND: In 2006, direct access to physical therapy was introduced in the Netherlands. Before this policy measure, evaluation and treatment by a physical therapist were only possible following referral by a physician. OBJECTIVE: The objectives of this study were to investigate how many patients use direct access and to establish whether these patients have a different profile than referred patients. METHODS: Electronic health care data from the National Information Service for Allied Health Care (LiPZ), a nationally representative registration network of 93 Dutch physical therapists working in 43 private practices, were used. RESULTS: In 2006, 28% of the patients seen by a physical therapist came by direct access. Patients with non-further-specified back problems, patients with nonspecific neck complaints, and higher-educated patients were more likely to refer themselves to a physical therapist, as were patients with health problems lasting for less than 1 month. Younger patients made more use of direct access. In addition, patients with recurring complaints more often referred themselves, as did patients who had received earlier treatment by a physical therapist. Patients with direct access received fewer treatment sessions. Compared with 2005, there was no increase in the number of patients visiting a physical therapist. LIMITATIONS: Data came only from physical therapists working on general conditions in general practices. Severity of complaints is not reported. CONCLUSIONS: A large, specific group of patients utilized self-referral, but the total number of patients seen by a physical therapist remained the same. In the future, it is important to evaluate the consequences of direct access, both on quality aspects and on cost-effectiveness.

What factors explain the number of physical therapy treatment sessions in patients referred with low back pain; a multilevel analysis.

BACKGROUND: It is well-known that the number of physical therapy treatment sessions varies over treatment episodes. Information is lacking, however, on the source and explanation of the variation. The purposes of the current study are: 1) to determine how the variance in the number of physical therapy treatment sessions in patients with non-specific low back pain (LBP) in the Netherlands is distributed over patient level, therapist level and practice level; and 2) to determine the factors that explain the variance. METHODS: Data were used from a national registration network on physical therapy. Our database contained information on 1,733 patients referred with LBP, treated by 97 therapists working in 41 practices. The variation in the number of treatment sessions was investigated by means of multilevel regression analyses. RESULTS: Eighty-eight per cent of the variation in the number of treatment sessions for patients with LBP is located at patient level and seven per cent is located at practice level. It was possible to explain thirteen per cent of all variance. The duration of the complaint, prior therapy, and the patients' age and gender in particular are related to the number of physical therapy treatment sessions. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that the number of physical therapy treatment sessions in patients with LBP mainly depends on patient characteristics. More variation needs to be explained, however, to improve the transparency of care. Future research should examine the contribution of psychosocial factors, baseline disability, and the ability to learn motor behavior as possible factors in the variation in treatment sessions.

Physiotherapy management of low back pain: does practice match the Dutch guidelines?

The purpose of this study is to explore adherence by Dutch physiotherapists to the physiotherapists' guideline for non-specific low back pain. For this study data from the National Information Service for Allied Health Care were used. This is a registration network that continuously collects information about physiotherapy patients and their treatment episodes. Within this network, adherence to the low back pain guideline was assessed by three criteria based on the guideline. These criteria concerned the number of sessions, the treatment goals, and the interventions. Data from patients with 'non-specific low back pain' as the reason for referral and a completed treatment episode were selected (n = 1254); 90 therapists in 40 practices treated these patients. The criterion concerning the number of sessions applied only for patients with acute complaints and was met in 17% of these patients. In about half of the patients the criterion for the treatment goals as well as the criterion relating to the interventions was met. Treatment goals are aimed mainly at improving mobility functions and changing body position. In more than three-quarters of the treatment episodes manual interventions (massage or manual manipulation) and exercise therapy were used frequently. As considerable variation in guideline adherence was shown to exist among therapists, there is clearly room for improvement in the quality of the care.