“A feeling of being part of the future” : a qualitative study on physical therapists’ experiences of delivering digital first-line treatment for hip and knee osteoarthritis
(2024) In Physiotherapy Theory and Practice- Abstract
Introduction: Digital options for osteoarthritis (OA) treatment are increasingly available with high patient satisfaction and acceptability. Little is, however, known about physical therapists’ (PT) perception of this treatment modality. Objective: To investigate PT’s experience of delivering digital treatment for hip and knee OA using a smart-phone application. Method: Nine PTs (mean age 36 years, women n = 5) with 3–24 months experience of delivering digital OA treatment were interviewed using a semi-structured interview guide. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using content analysis. Results: Four main categories arose; 1) A feeling of being part of the future, 2) Making an osteoarthritis diagnosis in a digital... (More)
Introduction: Digital options for osteoarthritis (OA) treatment are increasingly available with high patient satisfaction and acceptability. Little is, however, known about physical therapists’ (PT) perception of this treatment modality. Objective: To investigate PT’s experience of delivering digital treatment for hip and knee OA using a smart-phone application. Method: Nine PTs (mean age 36 years, women n = 5) with 3–24 months experience of delivering digital OA treatment were interviewed using a semi-structured interview guide. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using content analysis. Results: Four main categories arose; 1) A feeling of being part of the future, 2) Making an osteoarthritis diagnosis in a digital setting, 3) Facilitators and barriers of digital OA management and 4) Where to go from here? PTs were in general positive for digital treatment delivery but felt that a lack of visual assessments and physical examinations to enhance exercise evaluations and diagnosis accuracy was sometimes a disadvantage. Conclusion: Digital treatment delivery was in general perceived as a time-efficient way of providing high-quality care that may increase patient motivation and adherence without violating the therapeutic alliance. Future implementations of digital OA treatment programs should consider the possibility of including real-time video calls for visual assessment.
(Less)
- author
- Cronström, Anna LU and Sjödahl Hammarlund, Catharina LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2024
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- epub
- subject
- keywords
- Digital treatment, e-health, osteoarthritis, physical therapist
- in
- Physiotherapy Theory and Practice
- publisher
- Informa Healthcare
- external identifiers
-
- pmid:39034494
- scopus:85199219386
- ISSN
- 0959-3985
- DOI
- 10.1080/09593985.2024.2380478
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- f0f29e36-6549-4dfe-93ce-3d5f0782de40
- date added to LUP
- 2024-12-18 15:54:38
- date last changed
- 2025-07-03 08:13:49
@article{f0f29e36-6549-4dfe-93ce-3d5f0782de40,
abstract = {{<p>Introduction: Digital options for osteoarthritis (OA) treatment are increasingly available with high patient satisfaction and acceptability. Little is, however, known about physical therapists’ (PT) perception of this treatment modality. Objective: To investigate PT’s experience of delivering digital treatment for hip and knee OA using a smart-phone application. Method: Nine PTs (mean age 36 years, women n = 5) with 3–24 months experience of delivering digital OA treatment were interviewed using a semi-structured interview guide. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using content analysis. Results: Four main categories arose; 1) A feeling of being part of the future, 2) Making an osteoarthritis diagnosis in a digital setting, 3) Facilitators and barriers of digital OA management and 4) Where to go from here? PTs were in general positive for digital treatment delivery but felt that a lack of visual assessments and physical examinations to enhance exercise evaluations and diagnosis accuracy was sometimes a disadvantage. Conclusion: Digital treatment delivery was in general perceived as a time-efficient way of providing high-quality care that may increase patient motivation and adherence without violating the therapeutic alliance. Future implementations of digital OA treatment programs should consider the possibility of including real-time video calls for visual assessment.</p>}},
author = {{Cronström, Anna and Sjödahl Hammarlund, Catharina}},
issn = {{0959-3985}},
keywords = {{Digital treatment; e-health; osteoarthritis; physical therapist}},
language = {{eng}},
publisher = {{Informa Healthcare}},
series = {{Physiotherapy Theory and Practice}},
title = {{“A feeling of being part of the future” : a qualitative study on physical therapists’ experiences of delivering digital first-line treatment for hip and knee osteoarthritis}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09593985.2024.2380478}},
doi = {{10.1080/09593985.2024.2380478}},
year = {{2024}},
}