Abstract
Purpose and background
Private musculoskeletal practitioners treat a large section of people with back pain, and could play an important role in returning and maintaining patients to work. We aimed to examine practitioners perception of their role quantitatively.
methods and results
A postal questionnaire was sent to 300 chiropractors, osteopaths and physiotherapists (n=900). Responses were received from 352 out of 900 (39%). Physiotherapists visited the work place more frequently than either of the other groups, osteopaths were more likely to give out sick leave certificates than chiropractors, who in turn are more likely to give out sick leave certificates than physiotherapists. Physiotherapists had a significantly higher belief in the psychological benefits of work, and in the importance of contacting work than either chiropractors or osteopaths. In addition, physiotherapists held the strongest belief that returning their patients to work was within their remit. There were no differences between the groups in their beliefs that employers could be an obstacle to return to work, that work could be detrimental to recovery, or in their belief that rest from work was necessary for recovery. Almost all practitioners recommended a short break from work sometimes, and more than 10% recommended a break often or always.
Conclusion
Overall, practitioners perceived their role in returning patients to work as limited, and believed that direct contact with employers was beyond their remit. Physiotherapists appear to be better placed to liaise with work in terms of both their beliefs and activities.
Conflicts of interest
None
Sources of funding
None
