ReviewThe Journal of manual & manipulative therapy2022
A call to action: direct access to physical therapy is highly successful in the US military. When will professional bodies, legislatures, and payors provide the same advantages to all US civilian physical therapists?
Review in The Journal of manual & manipulative therapy, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 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
12 citing papers in PubMed.
- Comparing Conventional Medical Management to Spinal Cord Stimulation for the Treatment of Low Back Pain in a Cohort of DISTINCT RCT Patients.Journal of pain research · 2024Trial
- The value of integrating physical therapists into primary care, including patient outcomes and health care costs: a scoping review.Physical therapy · 2026Article
- Article
- Geospatial Disparities in Access to Outpatient Physical and Occupational Therapy Services in Texas: Implications for Health Equity and Rehabilitation Workforce Policy.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026Article
- A Pilot Study of a Synchronous Virtual Ultrasound Imaging Module for Physiotherapy Education.Physiotherapy research international : the journal for researchers and clinicians in physical therapy · 2026Article
- The Doctor of Physical Therapy Admission Test (DPTAT): A Vision for a Primary Care, Doctoring Profession.Medical science educator · 2025Article
- 'Harm? I don't think so!': medical overuse from the perspective of allied health professionals in Germany - a qualitative study.BMJ open · 2025Article
- Advancing first-contact, primary care physiotherapist practice: the value of integrating point-of-care diagnostic tools.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciences · 2025Article
- Do we need internal medicine specialists in physical therapy? Recognizing the need for updating the clinical practice paradigm.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciences · 2025Article
- Embedding Physical Therapy in the Pediatric Primary Care Setting: Qualitative Analysis of Pediatricians' Insights on Potential Collaborative Roles and Benefits.Pediatric reports · 2024Article
- Physical therapist awareness of diagnostic imaging referral jurisdictional scope of practice: an observational study.The Journal of manual & manipulative therapy · 2024Observational
- OMT-France publishes the first French physiotherapy guide for triage of patients with neuromusculoskeletal conditions - a step toward direct access in French speaking countries.The Journal of manual & manipulative 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
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesIn 2000, the American PT Association (APTA) published its Vision statement advocating for DA (DA) to PT. This narrative review of the literature aims to identify the current state of DA in the United States (US) and compare that status to the US Military.
methodsInitial PubMed search in the English language with keywords physical therapy (PT), physiotherapy, DA, self-referral, and primary contact from the year 2000 onwards with subsequent focused searches using keywords DA/self-referral/primary contact of physical therapists/physiotherapists on outcomes/autonomous practice/economic impact/patient satisfaction yielded 103 applicable studies on the topic. This paper excluded 40 international articles to focus on US military and civilian research.
resultsCurrent literature supports Physical Therapists (PTs) in an initial contact role based on patient safety, satisfaction, access to care, efficiency, healthcare utilization, and potential cost savings.
conclusionsDespite its success in the US Military, DA to PT in the US civilians remains limited and incomplete. PTs still await unrestricted DA and privileges associated with autonomous practice including the ability to order imaging and prescribe some medications.
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.