Musculoskeletal Disorders
Conditions
Brief summary
The purpose of this study is to determine whether initial triaging to physiotherapists of patients with musculoskeletal disorders who seek health care from primary care clinics affects the patients health and/or health care utilization differently than initial consultation with a general practitioner.
Interventions
OTHERInitially triaged to physiotherapist
OTHERInitially triaged to physician
Sponsors
Närhälsan Primary care Research and Development
Göteborg University
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
Masking
DOUBLE (Caregiver, Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
16 Years to 67 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* seeking primary care clinic for musculoskeletal disorder * age 16-67 years * speaks enough Swedish or English to understand the patient information and complete the questionnaires * triage nurse judges it suitable to triage participant to physiotherapist
Exclusion criteria
* has received treatment at the clinic by physician or physiotherapist during the preceding month for the same problem * seeking for chronic musculoskeletal disorder with unchanged symptoms the latest 3 months and for which the patient has already tried physiotherapy * seeking for help with medical aids other than crutches * is in need of home care * has been included in the study earlier
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Number of physician visits | 1 year |
| Change in self-evaluated level of pain latest week (0-10 scale) | 3 months |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Number of referrals for external examinations and to specialists | 1 year | — |
| Changes in health-related quality of life measured with EQ-5D | 2 weeks | — |
| Changes in attitudes regarding responsibility for musculoskeletal disorders measured with ARM scale | 2 weeks | — |
| Number of physiotherapist visits | 1 year | — |
| Risk for developing chronic pain measured with the Örebro Musculoskeletal Pain Screening Questionnaire | 2 weeks | — |
| Change in self-evaluated level of pain latest week (0-10 scale) | 2 weeks | — |
| Prescriptions för analgesics for the actual musculoskeletal disorder | 2 weeks | Received any prescriptions. Number of prescriptions. Number of occasions prescriptions were received. Type of prescription(s) received. |
| Change in experience of functional difficulty measured with DRI scale | 2 weeks | — |
| Number of days of sick-leave | 1 year | — |
Countries
Sweden
Outcome results
None listed