Premium
Physical Therapists’ Ability to Distinguish Between Inflammatory and Noninflammatory Arthritis and to Appropriately Refer Patients to a Rheumatologist
Author(s) -
Ehrmann Feldman Debbie,
Bernatsky Sasha,
Orozco Tatiana,
ElKhoury Jonathan,
Desmeules François,
Laliberté Maude,
Perreault Kadija,
Grad Roland,
Zummer Michel,
Woodhouse Linda
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
arthritis care and research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.032
H-Index - 163
eISSN - 2151-4658
pISSN - 2151-464X
DOI - 10.1002/acr.24081
Subject(s) - medicine , ankylosing spondylitis , referral , rheumatoid arthritis , physical therapy , arthritis , medical diagnosis , inflammatory arthritis , osteoarthritis , logistic regression , disease , alternative medicine , family medicine , pathology
Objective To investigate whether physical therapists (PTs) can correctly identify new‐onset inflammatory arthritis; to assess whether PTs are aware that cases of new‐onset inflammatory arthritis should be referred to a rheumatologist; to explore the comfort level of PTs to refer to medical specialists; and to determine factors associated with correctly identifying inflammatory arthritis and referring to a rheumatologist. Methods We sent a questionnaire to PTs in 2 Canadian provinces describing 4 case scenarios (new‐onset rheumatoid arthritis [RA], knee osteoarthritis [OA], new‐onset ankylosing spondylitis [AS], and low back pain [LBP]). Participants were asked to identify probable medical diagnoses and indicate their plan of action. We described the frequencies of our outcomes and used logistic regression to explore associated factors. Results A total of 352 PTs responded. The proportions who correctly identified each of the 4 cases were 90%, 83%, 77%, and 100%, respectively, for RA, OA, AS, and LBP. Among those, 77%, 30%, 73%, and 3%, respectively, indicated that it was “very important” or “extremely important” to refer to a rheumatologist. Approximately two‐thirds felt “extremely comfortable” or “quite comfortable” to refer to a specialist. PTs working in rural areas were less likely to refer. Conclusion Most PTs correctly identified the clinical cases and were aware of the importance of prompt referral to a rheumatologist for inflammatory disease. Most indicated that it was not very important to refer those with OA and LBP. This implies that many PTs can distinguish between inflammatory and noninflammatory conditions and appropriately refer patients with suspected inflammatory arthritis to a rheumatologist.