Factors associated with prescribing physiotherapy for adult patients consulting for musculoskeletal disorders in primary care; an ancillary study to ECOGEN - EHESP - École des hautes études en santé publique Access content directly
Preprints, Working Papers, ... Year : 2022

Factors associated with prescribing physiotherapy for adult patients consulting for musculoskeletal disorders in primary care; an ancillary study to ECOGEN

Matthieu Peurois
  • Function : Author
Natacha Fouquet
Najia Adjeroud
  • Function : Author
Yves Roquelaure
Aline Ramond-Roquin

Abstract

Background: Musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) are multifactorial requiring multidisciplinary treatment including physiotherapy. General practitioners (GP) have a central role in managing MSDs and mostly solicit physiotherapists accounting for 76.1% of physiotherapy prescriptions in France. Patient, physician, and contextual factors, including healthcare accessibility, can influence physiotherapy prescription rates. Objective : To identify patient, physician, and contextual factors associated with physiotherapy prescription in adult patients with MSDs in general practice. Methods: This study is based on the 2011/2012 French cross-sectional ECOGEN study. Analyses included working-age patients consulting their GP for any MSD. Physiotherapy prescription was assessed initially, then adjusted multilevel logistic model analysis of patient, physician, geographical area-related factors associated with these prescriptions was performed. Results: Among the 2305 patients included, 456 (19.8%) were prescribed physiotherapy. Following multilevel multivariate analyses, physiotherapy was prescribed more frequently for female patients (OR 1.28; 95% CI [1.03, 1.59]) with spinal (OR 1.47; 95% CI [1.18, 1.83]) and upper limb disorders (OR 1.66; 95% CI [1.20, 2.29]), and less frequently for patients > 50 years (OR 0.69; 95% CI [0.52, 0.91]), living in deprived geographical areas (OR 0.60; 95% CI [0.40, 0.90]). GPs prescribed physiotherapy less frequently if they were > 50 years (OR 0.50; 95% CI [0.39, 0.63]), had a high number of annual consultations, or were practicing in semi-urban area in a multidisciplinary team. Conclusion: This multilevel analysis identifies factors associated with physiotherapy prescription for patients with MSDs, including living in deprived geographical areas. This constitutes an original contribution towards addressing healthcare disparities.

Dates and versions

hal-03820561 , version 1 (19-10-2022)

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Matthieu Peurois, Mélanie Bertin, Natacha Fouquet, Najia Adjeroud, Yves Roquelaure, et al.. Factors associated with prescribing physiotherapy for adult patients consulting for musculoskeletal disorders in primary care; an ancillary study to ECOGEN. 2022. ⟨hal-03820561⟩
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