Clinical practice pattern of low back pain among physiotherapists in a
low-income country
Abstract
Background: Low back pain (LBP) is the top global cause of disability
and physiotherapy interventions are used to manage it. However, the
practice pattern of physiotherapists dealing with LBP patients in
low-income countries are limited. Aim: The study aims to explore the LBP
practice pattern of a low-income country’s ( i. e., Bangladeshi)
physiotherapists by their demographic and professional factors. Methods:
In a cross-sectional survey study, we have analyzed data from randomly
selected 423 physiotherapists of Bangladesh who have invited to fill-up
an online survey questionnaire about practice patterns. The first part
of the questionnaire contained question demographic and professional
background, second part included current intervention choices in the
management of patients with LBP, the final part consisted of information
on diagnosis, patient type and self-reported cure rate of LBP patients.
Ethical approval: Clinical Trial Registry India: CTRI/2020/05/025313.
Results: The Majority of the physiotherapists (54.8%) were
non-government service holders and 87.7% worked in the town area.
Regarding recommended interventions, only 12.3% frequently used those
and 21.5% didn’t either offer or know about those interventions. For
not recommended interventions, 69.3% occasionally, 13.5% frequently
and 17.3% never used such interventions. The prevalence of good,
moderate, and poor practice patterns was 14%, 62.4%, and 23.6%
respectively. Participants‘ marital status (P = 0.003) and graduation
institute category (P = 0.002) were significant factors for practice
pattern variation. Conclusion: The study justified physiotherapy
management status in a low-income country by comparing evidence-based
practice guidelines. This finding set as a low-income country database
to exhibit future research, clinical practice, and education for better
LBP physiotherapy management adherence to evidence-based public health
care.