ArticleBMC musculoskeletal disorders2021
Italian physiotherapists' knowledge of and adherence to osteoarthritis clinical practice guidelines: a cross-sectional study.
Article in BMC musculoskeletal disorders, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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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.
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Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 50 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Clinical records after asynchronous and synchronous e-learning courses: a multi-method randomised controlled trial on students' performance and experience.BMC medical education · 2023Trial
- Clinical Decision-Making and Guideline Alignment Among Brazilian Physical Therapists: Evidence From Standardized Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Vignettes.Journal of evaluation in clinical practice · 2026Article
- Clinical practice guidelines in fibromyalgia. Physiotherapists' adherence in Denmark: a cross-sectional web-based survey study.Rheumatology international · 2026Article
- Rotator Cuff-Related Shoulder Pain: A Survey of Current Physiotherapy Practice in Cyprus.Clinics and practice · 2026Article
- Exploring the Quality of Physical Therapy in Patients With Hip or Knee Osteoarthritis in Germany: A Cross-Sectional, Vignette-Based Study.Physical therapy · 2025Article
- Measuring guideline adherence in physiotherapy: A scoping review of methodological approaches.Journal of evaluation in clinical practice · 2025Article
- Exploring musculoskeletal pain among Italian olive pickers: A cross-sectional investigation into prevalence, attitudes, expectations, and beliefs.Work (Reading, Mass.) · 2025Article
- Literature Review to Understand the Burden and Current Non-surgical Management of Moderate-Severe Pain Associated with Knee Osteoarthritis.Rheumatology and therapy · 2024Review
- Frequent use of prescription NSAIDs among people with knee or hip osteoarthritis despite contraindications to or precautions with NSAIDs.Osteoarthritis and cartilage · 2024Article
- Global mapping survey research on physiotherapeutic interventions for osteoarthritis: a scoping review protocol.BMJ open · 2024Article
- Physiotherapists' adherence to Clinical Practice Guidelines in fibromyalgia: a cross-sectional online survey.Rheumatology international · 2024Article
- Knowledge, attitude and utilisation of evidence-based therapeutic exercises in knee osteoarthritis management in Nigeria.Ghana medical journal · 2024Article
- Guideline-Adherent Physiotherapy for Patients With Hip and Knee Osteoarthritis in Germany: Protocol for an Implementation Research Project Using the Theoretical Domains Framework and the Behavior Change Wheel.JMIR research protocols · 2023Article
- Article
- Physiotherapy for patients with hip and knee osteoarthritis in Germany: a survey of current practice.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2023Article
- Management of non-specific thoracic spine pain: a cross-sectional study among physiotherapists.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2023Article
- Rehabilitation after Hip Fracture Surgery: A Survey on Italian Physiotherapists' Knowledge and Adherence to Evidence-Based Practice.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Enablers and barriers to evidence implementation in complementary medicine: A systematic review.Integrative medicine research · 2022Review
- Physiotherapists' knowledge of and adherence to evidence-based practice guidelines and recommendations for ankle sprains management: a cross-sectional study.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionImplementation of clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) to manage musculoskeletal conditions among physiotherapists appears suboptimal. Osteoarthritis is one of the most disabling conditions worldwide and several studies showed a lack of knowledge of and adherence to osteoarthritis CPGs in physiotherapists' clinical practice. However, those studies are not conclusive, as they examine the knowledge of and adherence to CPGs only in isolation, or only by focussing on a single treatment. Thus, analysis of the knowledge of and adherence to CPGs in the same sample would allow for a better understanding of the evidence-to-practice gap, which, if unaddressed, can lead to suboptimal care for these patients. This study aims at assessing Italian physiotherapists' evidence-to-practice gap in osteoarthritis CPGs.
methodsAn online survey divided into two sections investigating knowledge of and adherence to CPGs was developed based on three high-quality, recent and relevant CPGs. In the first section, participants had to express their agreement with 24 CPG statements through a 1 (completely disagree) to 5 (completely agree) scale. We defined a ≥ 70% agreement with a statement as consensus. In the second section, participants were shown a clinical case, with different interventions to choose from. Participants were classified as 'Delivering' (all recommended interventions selected), 'Partially Delivering' (some recommended interventions missing) and 'Non-Delivering' (at least one non-recommended interventions selected) the recommended intervention, depending on chosen interventions.
results822 physiotherapists (mean age (SD): 35.8 (13.3); female 47%) completed the survey between June and July 2020. In the first section, consensus was achieved for 13/24 statements. In the second section, 25% of the participants were classified as 'Delivering', 22% as 'Partially Delivering' and 53% as 'Non-Delivering'.
conclusionsOur findings revealed an adequate level of knowledge of osteoarthritis CPGs regarding the importance of exercise and education. However, an adequate level of adherence has yet to be reached, since many physiotherapists did not advise weight reduction, but rest from physical activity, and often included secondary treatments (e.g. manual therapy) supported by low-level evidence. These results identify an evidence-to-practice gap, which may lead to non-evidence based practice behaviours for the management of patients with osteoarthritis.
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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.