A Retrospective Chart Review of Factors That Influence Outpatient Physical Therapy Care for Individuals With Chronic Constipation Utilizing an Intersectionality Lens

Abstract

Purpose: This study sought to investigate intersectional factors regarding race, gender, health status, barriers to care, and socioeconomic factors surrounding adult individuals referred to outpatient physical therapy care with chronic constipation in the Miami, Florida metro area. Methods: The study was a retrospective chart review of 200 individuals referred to outpatient physical therapy at the University of Miami Health System over five years. The four primary questions that sought to explain physical therapy wait times, distance driven for care, duration of constipation on initial evaluation, and subjective well-being on the last physical therapy appointment were analyzed through binary logistic regression. Results: Our results demonstrate that subjective well-being at the end of outpatient physical therapy care for chronic constipation was negatively affected by identifying as African American/Black versus Caucasian (77.3%, odds ratio = 0.227 95% confidence interval, 0.061-0.847) and high durations of constipation ≥5 years (86.4%, odds ratio = 0.136; 95% confidence interval, = 0.026-0.723). Additionally, subjective well-being at the end of physical therapy care for CC was positively affected by an increasing number of sessions (9%, OR = 1.09; 95% CI, 1.002-1.194). Conclusion: Our findings indicated race and duration of constipation may impact clinical outcomes for individuals seeking outpatient physical therapy care for chronic constipation. Descriptive statistics also demonstrate the need to reach individuals with chronic constipation sooner and call for a more equitable and diverse representation of individuals in chronic constipation research and clinical care.