What patient-specific factors can potentially affect physiotherapy attendance of patients with knee OA at a local hospital in Singapore?
Chi Min Ryan Cheok, Chien Joo Lim, Bryan Yijia Tan and 2 others
PMID 40535984WHAT IT FOUND
Standard-care knee OA patients attended an average of 2.7 sessions.
Females, those with higher BMI, previous injections, or more pain during tests attended less. Conversely, those with higher anxiety or depression scores attended more. This helps identify patients at risk of low adherence.
Key findings
01Females, patients with higher BMI, and those with previous joint injections were significantly less likely to attend physiotherapy sessions.
02Higher pain levels during the Chair Stand and Stair Climb tests were associated with lower attendance.
03Patients with higher anxiety and depression scores (PHQ-4) had higher odds of attending more physiotherapy sessions.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
Very small sample size (n=44) limits the generalizability and statistical power. The cohort consisted only of Chinese patients, so findings may not apply to the broader Singaporean population. The study did not collect data on socio-economic factors like income or history of falls, which can influence attendance. This is a retrospective analysis of a standard-care arm, not a direct evaluation of an intervention's effect on attendance.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The study was funded by the National Medical Research Council of Singapore.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that higher anxiety and depression always lead to better physiotherapy attendance. This counter-intuitive finding was seen in a very small, specific cohort of Chinese patients in Singapore and may not generalize to other populations or settings.