ArticlePM & R : the journal of injury, function, and rehabilitation2022
Relationships between physical therapy intervention and opioid use: A scoping review.
Article in PM & R : the journal of injury, function, and rehabilitation, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 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.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 17 citations in OpenAlex.
- The value of integrating physical therapists into primary care, including patient outcomes and health care costs: a scoping review.Physical therapy · 2026Article
- Impact of chiropractic care on opioid use for noncancer spine pain: systematic review and meta-analysis.Pain reports · 2026Review
- Opioid dose, duration, and risk of use disorder in Medicaid patients with musculoskeletal pain.Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.) · 2026Article
- A description of serious adverse events following spinal manipulative therapy for adults with history of spine surgery: a single institution retrospective chart review.The Journal of manual & manipulative therapy · 2025Article
- The association between postoperative physical therapy and opioid prescription after posterior lumbar interbody fusion: a retrospective cohort study of United States academic health centers.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2025Article
- The Relative Effectiveness of Physical Therapy and Pain Medication in Managing Sports-related Injuries.Orthopedic reviews · 2025Article
- Applying a sustainability perspective in the literature on physical therapy in relation to pharmaceuticals: a scoping review.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Delayed timing of physical therapy initiation increases the risk of future opioid use in individuals with knee osteoarthritis: a real-world cohort study.British journal of sports medicine · 2023Article
- Opioid Initiation Within One Year After Starting a Digital Musculoskeletal (MSK) Program: An Observational, Longitudinal Study with Comparison Group.Journal of pain research · 2023Article
- Application of risk assessment tools to predict opioid usage after shoulder surgery.JSES international · 2022Article
- Use of a Non-Pharmacological Pain Relief Kit to Reduce Opioid Use Following Orthopedic Surgery: A Prospective Randomized Study.International journal of sports physical therapy · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTo synthesize available evidence that has examined the relationship between physical therapy (PT) and opioid use. TYPE: Scoping Review LITERATURE SURVEY: Data sources including Google Scholar, Embase, PubMed, Cochrane Library, and CINAHL were searched for English articles up to October 24, 2019 using terms ("physical therapy"[Title/Abstract] OR physiotherapy[Title/Abstract] OR rehabilitation[Title/Abstract]) AND (opiate*[Title/Abstract] OR opioid*[Title/Abstract]). METHODOLOGY: Included studies evaluated a PT intervention and reported an opioid-use outcome. Data were extracted to describe the PT intervention, patient sample, opioid-use measurement, and results of any time or group comparisons. Study quality was evaluated with Joanna Briggs checklists based on study design. SYNTHESIS: Thirty studies were included that evaluated PT in at least one of these seven categories: interdisciplinary program (n = 8), modalities (n = 3), treatment (n = 3), utilization (n = 2), content (n = 3), timing (n = 13), and location (n = 2). Mixed results were reported for reduced opioid-use after interdisciplinary care and after PT modalities. Utilizing PT was associated with lower odds (ranging from 0.2-0.8) of using opioid medication for persons with low back pain (LBP) and injured workers; however, guideline-adherent care did not further reduce opioid use for persons with LBP. Early PT utilization after index visit for spine or joint pain and after orthopedic surgery was also associated with lower odds of using opioid medications (ranging from 0.27-0.93). Emergency department PT care was not associated with fewer opioid prescriptions than standard emergency department care. PT in a rehabilitation center after total knee replacement was not associated with lower opioid use than inpatient PT.
conclusionsThe relationship between timing of PT and opioid use was evaluated in 13 of 30 studies for a variety of patient populations. Eight of these 13 studies reported a relationship between early PT and reduced subsequent opioid use, making the largest sample of studies in this scoping review with supporting evidence. There is limited and inconclusive evidence to establish whether the content and/or location of PT interventions improves outcomes because of heterogeneity between studies.
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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.