Effectiveness of peer-assessment for implementing a Low Back Pain Guideline for physical therapy: a clustered randomized controlled trial

The effectiveness of peer-assessment to improve guideline adherence and reflective practice compared with regular case-based discussions about the Dutch physical therapy guideline on low back pain. A cluster randomized controlled trial in Communities of Practice (CoP) of primary care physical therapists.

Status

Active, not recruiting

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Interventional

Source

ISRCTN

Registry ID

ISRCTN31973020

Enrollment

Registered

2012-10-11

Start date

2009-09-01

Completion date

Unknown

Last updated

2021-01-05

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Implementation of the Dutch guideline on low back pain for physical therapists Not Applicable

Interventions

All participants will be invited for a joint meeting where the updated low back pain guideline will be discussed in an interactive educational session. Both peer-assessment groups and case-based discu

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Inclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria: Communities of Practice with physical therapists working in a primary care setting and treating patients with low back pain on a regular basis

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria: Communities of Practices with physical therapist who are not working in primary care and not treating patients with low back pain on a regular basis

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
Adherence to the low back pain guideline with 12 validated performance indicators. These indicators reflect all steps in the care process and are directly related to the clinical vignettes based on the Dutch physical therapy guideline on low back pain. The degree to which physical therapists adhere to these indicators will be assessed by means of an online assignment using vignettes of four cases of low back pain that adequately cover the patient profiles described in the guideline. For each vignette, a score of guideline adherence will be calculated by dividing the actual score by the maximum possible score, and multiplying the result by 100. In addition, a mean score of overall guideline adherence will be calculated by adding up the four scores per vignette and dividing the total by four.	—

Measure

Time frame

Adherence to the low back pain guideline with 12 validated performance indicators. These indicators reflect all steps in the care process and are directly related to the clinical vignettes based on the Dutch physical therapy guideline on low back pain. The degree to which physical therapists adhere to these indicators will be assessed by means of an online assignment using vignettes of four cases of low back pain that adequately cover the patient profiles described in the guideline. For each vignette, a score of guideline adherence will be calculated by dividing the actual score by the maximum possible score, and multiplying the result by 100. In addition, a mean score of overall guideline adherence will be calculated by adding up the four scores per vignette and dividing the total by four.

—

Secondary

Measure	Time frame
Self-reflection, which is measured by the Self-Reflection and Insight Scale (SRIS) at baseline and after 8 months follow up.	—

Countries

Netherlands

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ISRCTN (via WHO ICTRP) · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026