Physiotherapy and Guillain-Barré syndrome: results of a national survey.
OBJECTIVE
To discover the extent to which persons with Guillain-Barré syndrome receive treatment by a physiotherapist (as inpatients and outpatients), and to assess whether the amount of treatment received is related to outcome.


METHODS
Survey method using self-administered questionnaires distributed through a national database.


METHODS
Members of the Guillain-Barré Syndrome Support Group (n=1535).


METHODS
General patient data, general mobility, F-score, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Short Form-36 and Fatigue Severity Scale.


RESULTS
In total, 884/1535 (58%) complete responses were received. Nearly 10% of respondents had not received treatment by a physiotherapist in hospital despite their average functional level being the same as respondents who had received treatment in hospital. One-quarter of respondents said that they had not received treatment following hospital discharge despite the identification of relatively high levels of disability. Those who did not receive treatment by a physiotherapist following discharge were less severely disabled. This may indicate that physiotherapists tend to offer treatment to more severely disabled patients. The majority of patients reported disabling fatigue; whilst not statistically related to receipt of treatment by a physiotherapist, this highlights the importance of assessing fatigue in treatment plans to improve physical functioning.


CONCLUSIONS
Improvements to policy and practice can be made by widening inpatient accessibility to treatment by a physiotherapist and increasing outpatient provision of treatment for patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome of all degrees of severity.
Davidson
Ian
I
School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK. ian.davidson@manchester.ac.uk
Wilson
Charlotte
C
Walton
Timothy
T
Brissenden
Shirley
S
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003422:Critical Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005221:Fatigue / Q000534:rehabilitation / Q000628:therapy; D020275:Guillain-Barre Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000534:rehabilitation* / Q000628:therapy; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients; D010045:Outpatients; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology