ArticleBMJ open2020
Physiotherapists' pain attitudes and beliefs towards chronic low back pain and their association with treatment selection: a cross-sectional study.
Article in BMJ open, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 41 citations in OpenAlex.
- Attitudes, Beliefs, and Clinical Decision-Making Regarding Low Back Pain: A Cross-Sectional Study of Pakistani Medical Practitioners, Physiotherapists, and Exercise Professionals.Musculoskeletal care · 2026Article
- The impact of a brief online education intervention on the knowledge, attitudes and beliefs of qualified physiotherapists about chronic low back pain: Pre- and post-intervention survey.The South African journal of physiotherapy · 2026Article
- The influence of low back pain-related attitudes and beliefs on the clinical decision making of physical therapists.The Journal of manual & manipulative therapy · 2024Article
- Chronic Pain Management Approaches among Spanish Physiotherapists: Influences, Practices, Barriers, and Challenges.Journal of personalized medicine · 2024Article
- The Swiss chiropractic practice-based research network: a population-based cross-sectional study to inform future musculoskeletal research.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Research designs and instruments to detect physiotherapy overuse of low-value care services in low back pain management: a scoping review.BMC health services research · 2023Article
- Comparison of attitudes and beliefs of physical therapists and primary care physicians regarding low back pain management: A cross-sectional study.Journal of back and musculoskeletal rehabilitation · 2022Article
- A mixed-methods survey of physiotherapists who practice acupuncture and dry needling in Ontario, Canada: practice characteristics, motivations, and professional outcomes.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesThe main aim of this study was to investigate physiotherapists' pain attitudes and beliefs towardss non-specific chronic low back pain (NSCLBP) and identify whether they are associated with treatment selection.
designCross-sectional study.
settingSaudi Arabia (SA).
participantsAn online survey was distributed to physiotherapists from April 2018 to January 2019. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: (1) Biomedical and biopsychosocial treatment orientations were assessed using the Pain Attitudes and Beliefs Scale for Physiotherapists. (2) Frequent potential treatments used by physiotherapists for individuals with NSCLBP were identified through a 20-item survey. (3) The association between physiotherapists' pain attitudes and beliefs and treatment selection was investigated. Descriptive analysis, Pearson's correlation and multinomial logistic regression were used to analyse the data using SPSS (V.26).
resultsA total of 304 responses were included in the analysis. The biomedical (34.45±7.84) and biopsychosocial (31.74±5.67) treatment orientations were relatively low. The most frequent treatments used by physiotherapists were home exercises (87.1%), patient education (82.0%), specific back exercises (80.6%), electrotherapy (61.9%), soft tissue release (58.8%) and spinal mobilisation or manipulation (57.8%). Physiotherapists with a stronger biomedical treatment orientation were more likely to use treatments (p<0.05) such as specific back exercises, electrotherapy, soft tissue release, hydrotherapy, massage, lumbar supports and acupuncture. However, physiotherapists with a stronger biopsychosocial treatment orientation were more likely to use cognitive functional therapy (p<0.01).
conclusionsBiomedical and biopsychosocial treatment orientations were relatively low among physiotherapists in SA. Although treatments such as home exercises and patient education were frequently used, some passive and traditional treatments not recommended by clinical practice guidelines continue to be commonly used by physiotherapists in SA. This study has confirmed that physiotherapists' pain attitudes and beliefs are significantly associated with treatment selection when managing individuals with NSCLBP. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: Researchregistry3944.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.