Referrals for physical therapy for osteoarthritis during the COVID-19 pandemic: A retrospective analysis

<h4>Background</h4> Osteoarthritis (OA) is a leading cause of musculoskeletal pain and disability among Americans. Physical therapy (PT) is recommended per the 2019 ACR /Arthritis Foundation Guideline for Treatment of OA of the Hand, Hip, and Knee. During COVID-19, access to healthcare h...

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Autores principales: Manmeet Kaur, Daniel Black, Jeffrey Fine, Barton L. Wise
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Publicado: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2021
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Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/8a1c4ddb46b849ceb2fb43e78c2ae6a9
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spelling oai:doaj.org-article:8a1c4ddb46b849ceb2fb43e78c2ae6a92021-11-11T08:14:53ZReferrals for physical therapy for osteoarthritis during the COVID-19 pandemic: A retrospective analysis1932-6203https://doaj.org/article/8a1c4ddb46b849ceb2fb43e78c2ae6a92021-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8570525/?tool=EBIhttps://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203<h4>Background</h4> Osteoarthritis (OA) is a leading cause of musculoskeletal pain and disability among Americans. Physical therapy (PT) is recommended per the 2019 ACR /Arthritis Foundation Guideline for Treatment of OA of the Hand, Hip, and Knee. During COVID-19, access to healthcare has been altered in a variety of clinical settings, with the pandemic creating delays in healthcare, with an unknown impact on access to PT care for OA. <h4>Objectives</h4> We sought to determine whether referrals to PT for OA were reduced in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to 2019. <h4>Methods</h4> A retrospective analysis was done of 3586 PT referrals placed by the University of California, Davis for 206 OA ICD-10 codes from January to November 2019 and from January to November 2020. The numbers of PT referrals per month of each year were compared using both descriptive statistics and Poisson Regression analysis. <h4>Results</h4> A total of 1972 PT referrals for OA were placed from January to November 2019. Only 1614 referrals for OA were placed from January to November 2020, representing a significant decrease (p = 0.001). Month-by-month analysis of 2020 compared to 2019 revealed statistically significant drops in PT referrals for OA in April (p = 0.001), May (p = 0.001), and August (p = 0.001). <h4>Conclusions</h4> These findings reveal a significant reduction in the number of referrals for PT for OA placed in 2020 during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. These reductions were particularly evident in the months following state-mandated actions and closures. Factors associated with this outcome may include decreased access to primary care providers, perceptions of PT availability by health care providers, decreased mobility limiting access to both clinic and PT appointments, and/or willingness to engage in PT by patients during the pandemic.Manmeet KaurDaniel BlackJeffrey FineBarton L. WisePublic Library of Science (PLoS)articleMedicineRScienceQENPLoS ONE, Vol 16, Iss 11 (2021)
institution DOAJ
collection DOAJ
language EN
topic Medicine
R
Science
Q
spellingShingle Medicine
R
Science
Q
Manmeet Kaur
Daniel Black
Jeffrey Fine
Barton L. Wise
Referrals for physical therapy for osteoarthritis during the COVID-19 pandemic: A retrospective analysis
description <h4>Background</h4> Osteoarthritis (OA) is a leading cause of musculoskeletal pain and disability among Americans. Physical therapy (PT) is recommended per the 2019 ACR /Arthritis Foundation Guideline for Treatment of OA of the Hand, Hip, and Knee. During COVID-19, access to healthcare has been altered in a variety of clinical settings, with the pandemic creating delays in healthcare, with an unknown impact on access to PT care for OA. <h4>Objectives</h4> We sought to determine whether referrals to PT for OA were reduced in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to 2019. <h4>Methods</h4> A retrospective analysis was done of 3586 PT referrals placed by the University of California, Davis for 206 OA ICD-10 codes from January to November 2019 and from January to November 2020. The numbers of PT referrals per month of each year were compared using both descriptive statistics and Poisson Regression analysis. <h4>Results</h4> A total of 1972 PT referrals for OA were placed from January to November 2019. Only 1614 referrals for OA were placed from January to November 2020, representing a significant decrease (p = 0.001). Month-by-month analysis of 2020 compared to 2019 revealed statistically significant drops in PT referrals for OA in April (p = 0.001), May (p = 0.001), and August (p = 0.001). <h4>Conclusions</h4> These findings reveal a significant reduction in the number of referrals for PT for OA placed in 2020 during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. These reductions were particularly evident in the months following state-mandated actions and closures. Factors associated with this outcome may include decreased access to primary care providers, perceptions of PT availability by health care providers, decreased mobility limiting access to both clinic and PT appointments, and/or willingness to engage in PT by patients during the pandemic.
format article
author Manmeet Kaur
Daniel Black
Jeffrey Fine
Barton L. Wise
author_facet Manmeet Kaur
Daniel Black
Jeffrey Fine
Barton L. Wise
author_sort Manmeet Kaur
title Referrals for physical therapy for osteoarthritis during the COVID-19 pandemic: A retrospective analysis
title_short Referrals for physical therapy for osteoarthritis during the COVID-19 pandemic: A retrospective analysis
title_full Referrals for physical therapy for osteoarthritis during the COVID-19 pandemic: A retrospective analysis
title_fullStr Referrals for physical therapy for osteoarthritis during the COVID-19 pandemic: A retrospective analysis
title_full_unstemmed Referrals for physical therapy for osteoarthritis during the COVID-19 pandemic: A retrospective analysis
title_sort referrals for physical therapy for osteoarthritis during the covid-19 pandemic: a retrospective analysis
publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
publishDate 2021
url https://doaj.org/article/8a1c4ddb46b849ceb2fb43e78c2ae6a9
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AT bartonlwise referralsforphysicaltherapyforosteoarthritisduringthecovid19pandemicaretrospectiveanalysis
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