Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38395795›Full record

ArticleBMC primary care2024

"Cooperation between physicians and physios fosters trust you know": a qualitative study exploring patients' experience with first-contact physiotherapy for low back pain in French primary care.

Amélie Kechichian, Dylan Pommier, Léo Druart, Véronique Lowry, Nicolas Pinsault, François Desmeules

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC primary care, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
2.2field-weighted citation impact, top 14% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 5 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Characteristics and Specific Aspects of the Therapeutic Alliance in Physiotherapy Care: A Qualitative Study in France.Physiotherapy research international : the journal for researchers and clinicians in physical therapy · 2026
    Article
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Amélie KechichianUniversity Grenoble-Alpes, CNRS, UMR 5525, VetAgro Sup, Grenoble INP, TIMC, Grenoble, France. amelie.kechichian@univ-grenoble-alpes.fr.
Dylan PommierDepartment of Physiotherapy, University Grenoble-Alpes, 175 Avenue Centrale, Saint-Martin d'Hères, Grenoble, 38400, France.
Léo DruartUniversity Grenoble-Alpes, CNRS, UMR 5525, VetAgro Sup, Grenoble INP, TIMC, Grenoble, France.
Véronique LowryMaisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital Research Center, University of Montreal Affiliated Research Center, Montreal, QC, Canada.
Nicolas PinsaultUniversity Grenoble-Alpes, CNRS, UMR 5525, VetAgro Sup, Grenoble INP, TIMC, Grenoble, France.
François DesmeulesMaisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital Research Center, University of Montreal Affiliated Research Center, Montreal, QC, Canada.
Université Grenoble Alpes · FRUniversité de Montréal · CAVetAgro Sup · FR

Funding

URPS-MK ARA No grant ID
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundPhysiotherapists working in collaboration with family physicians in French multidisciplinary primary healthcare clinics are now able to manage acute low back pain patients as first-contact practitioners in advanced practice roles. This includes medical act delegation such as making a medical diagnosis and prescribing medication. The aim of this study is to explore patients' experience and perceptions when attending a first-contact physiotherapist (FCP) in an advanced practice collaborative primary care model for acute low back pain (LBP).

methodsA qualitative study using semi-structured interviews was conducted. Patients that consulted a FCP for acute LBP care in new collaborative model were included. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and inductive thematic analysis was performed to generate themes related to patients' experience and perceptions.

resultsTen patients were interviewed (3 women, 7 men; mean age 36.5 ± 9.63 years). All LBP participants experienced important level of pain and disability. Four overarching themes related to patients' experience with the new FCP model were formalized: 1) "Going to see a physiotherapist who specializes in painful movements, well that makes sense to me", 2) "Physiotherapist offered to give me exercises to do at home to relieve the back pain", 3) "I went there feeling confident", 4) "The physiotherapist can do more than just send you to see more appropriate people". Participants highlighted the need to receive timely and high-quality care and were receptive with being autonomously managed by a FCP. Overall, patients' experiences with FCP model of care were positive. Participants were highly confident in the FCP's ability to perform delegated medical tasks including making a medical diagnosis and prescribing oral medication such as analgesic drugs. Patients felt that a greater expansion of FCPs' scope of practice was needed to improve the model.

conclusionFindings from this study can inform the implementation of FCP in countries where patients are not typically granted FCP by underlining that patients are favourable towards the advance practice model as such models support timely and high-quality care. Further research is needed to better determine the future advance practice physiotherapists' scope of practice in French primary and secondary care settings.

Indexed as

Low Back PainPhysiciansAdultFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedPhysical Therapy ModalitiesPrimary Health CareTrustAdvanced practice physiotherapyFirst-contact physiotherapistMedical act delegationPatients’ experience and perceptionsQualitative studySemi-structured interviewsThematic analysis

Identifiers

PMID38395795
PMCPMC10885482
OpenAlexW4392111361

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.