ArticlePhysical therapy2023
Do Physical Therapists Practice a Behavioral Medicine Approach? A Comparison of Perceived and Observed Practice Behaviors.
Article in Physical therapy, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed.
- Where is the patient in the records? Evaluating physiotherapists' first visit in occupational health primary care pathway for low back pain.BMJ open quality · 2026Trial
- Capabilities, opportunities and motivations in implementing guideline-oriented biopsychosocial low back pain management: perceptions of occupational healthcare professionals after an educational intervention.BMC health services research · 2025Trial
- Physical Therapists' Practices and Attitudes Toward Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs: A National Cross-Sectional Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Can a tailored implementation programme enhance the adoption of guideline-adherent behaviour in physiotherapists and chiropractors managing patients with low back pain? An implementation study.Implementation science communications · 2025Article
- Evaluating musculoskeletal imaging communication interventions using behavioural science: a scoping review using the COM-B model.BMJ open · 2025Article
- Opinions of physiotherapists at the University Teaching Hospital on assessing the psychological well-being of patients with stroke: A qualitative study.PLOS mental health · 2025Article
- Sustainable implementation efforts in physio- and occupational therapy: a scoping review.Implementation science communications · 2024Article
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveA behavioral medicine approach, incorporating a biopsychosocial view and behavior change techniques, is recommended in physical therapy for the management of musculoskeletal pain. However, little is known about physical therapists' actual practice behavior regarding the behavioral medicine approach. The aim of this study was to examine how physical therapists in primary health care judge their own practice behavior of a behavioral medicine approach in the assessment and treatment of patients with persistent musculoskeletal pain versus how they practice a behavioral medicine approach as observed by independent experts in video recordings of patient consultations.
methodsA prospective cohort study was conducted. Video recordings of 23 physical therapists' clinical behavior in 139 patient consultations were observed by independent experts and compared with the physical therapists' self-reported practice behavior, using a protocol including 24 clinical behaviors. The difference between observed and self-reported clinical behaviors was analyzed with a Chi-square test and a Fisher exact test.
resultsThe behavioral medicine approach was, in general, practiced to a small extent and half of the self-reported clinical behaviors were overestimated when compared with the observed behaviors. According to the observations, the physical perspective dominated in assessment and treatment, the functional behavioral analysis was never performed, and the mean number of behavior change techniques used was 0.7.
conclusionThere was a discrepancy between how physical therapists perceived the extent to which they practiced a behavioral medicine approach in their clinical behavior compared with what the independent researchers observed in the video recordings. IMPACT: This study demonstrates the importance of using observations instead of using self-reports when evaluating professionals' clinical behavior. The results also suggest that-to ensure that physical therapy integrates the biopsychosocial model of health-physical therapists need to increase their focus on psychosocial factors in clinical practice.
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