Low Back Pain: Current Patterns of Canadian Physiotherapy Service Delivery

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this study was to describe the current patterns of service delivery of Canadian physiotherapy (PT) professionals working in adult musculoskeletal (MSK) outpatient practice. Methods: A total of 846 Canadian PT professionals working with an adult MSK outpatient clientele participated in an online survey about how they would treat a patient with low back pain (LBP). After reading an online clinical vignette about a fictional patient with varying insurance status, participants answered questions about how they would treat the patient (e.g., wait time, frequency and duration of treatment, time allotted for initial evaluation and treatment), about their actual practice (e.g., number of patients seen per day), and about their work setting. Results: The vignette patients with LBP would typically be seen within 2 weeks, especially in private practice, and most would receive care 2–3 times per week for 1–3 months. Initial evaluations and subsequent treatments would take 31–60 minutes. Two-thirds of participants reported treating 6–15 patients a day in their current practice setting. Differences were found between provinces and territories (with the longest wait time in Quebec), practice settings (with a longer wait time in the public sector), and insurance status (patients covered by workers' compensation are seen more frequently). Conclusion: This study adds to our knowledge of the accessibility of outpatient MSK PT services for patients with LBP in Canada, and it points to potential areas for improvement.