Perceived Recovery From Physiotherapy in Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain: Psychological, Pain and Disability Factors in a Cross-Sectional Study

Physical therapists and physical therapist assistants who treat adults with long-standing musculoskeletal pain in outpatient or clinic settings, and who use patient-reported ratings of improvement as part of how they track response to care.

Licensed physical therapists and physical therapist assistants. The material is also relevant to occupational therapists, athletic trainers and chiropractors who manage chronic musculoskeletal pain, and to students in these professions.

Intended audience

Physical Therapy

Level

Intermediate

Delivery format

Online, asynchronous, self-paced course: interactive reading with audio or video, and a scored post-test.

Based on

La Touche R, Pardo-Montero J, Grande-Alonso M, Paris-Alemany A, Miñambres-Martín D, Nouvilas-Pallejà E. Psychological, Pain, and Disability Factors Influencing the Perception of Improvement/Recovery from Physiotherapy in Patients with Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain: A Cross-Sectional Study. Healthcare (Basel). 2023;12(1). DOI: 10.3390/healthcare12010012. PMID: 38200918. PMCID: PMC10778840.

This course reports only what the study above examined and concluded. No claim, figure or recommendation has been drawn from any other source.

After completing this course, you will be able to:

1. Name the six patient-reported and treatment-related factors that entered the study's final model as predictors of patients' overall perception of improvement.
2. Describe how the investigators recruited the sample and how they measured perceived change, pain and disability, fear of movement, catastrophizing, self-efficacy, therapeutic alliance and adherence.
3. Explain why the cross-sectional design cannot establish that these factors cause perceived improvement, and state which treatment combinations were associated with the highest proportions of reported moderate or complete recovery.

1. Start Here: How This Course Works
2. Podcast: Beliefs, Bonding and Session Count in Perceived Recovery (about nine minutes)
3. Why Perceived Improvement Matters: The Question, the Patients and the Setting
4. Inside the Methods: The Perceived Change Rating and the Questionnaire Battery
5. What Tracked With Patients' Own Ratings of Improvement
6. Treatment Type and Reported Recovery: Where Multimodal Care Stood Out
7. Limitations and Clinical Context: What a Single Snapshot Can Support
8. Key Takeaways
9. Post-Test and Course Evaluation

Quinn Millington, PT, DPT, ECS is the instructor of record: the licensed clinician who reviewed this course and signed off on it. The name and credentials print on the certificate.

Disclosures. This course was developed by The ConEd Solution, which has a financial interest in its sale. No outside funding or sponsorship was received. The instructor of record has no affiliation with the authors of the source publication or their institutions.

This course awards 0.5 contact hours (30 min). How you earn them:

1. Complete the course. Every lesson, in order.
2. Pass the post-test. Score 80% or higher. Retakes are allowed.
3. Complete the evaluation. A short form rating each learning objective and the course.
4. Download your certificate. It is issued on completion and stays available in My Account.

The episode time is its measured length. Reading, post-test and evaluation times are estimates.

This course is designed to satisfy the quality requirements state boards set for continuing education. Requirements vary by state, and confirming that a course fits your renewal is up to you. Each state’s own acceptance statement is in the credit panel on this page.

1. La Touche R, Pardo-Montero J, Grande-Alonso M, Paris-Alemany A, Miñambres-Martín D, Nouvilas-Pallejà E. Psychological, Pain, and Disability Factors Influencing the Perception of Improvement/Recovery from Physiotherapy in Patients with Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain: A Cross-Sectional Study. Healthcare (Basel). 2023;12(1). DOI: 10.3390/healthcare12010012. PMID: 38200918. PMCID: PMC10778840.
2. This course reports only what the study above examined and concluded. No claim, figure or recommendation has been drawn from any other source.