title: Physical therapists should integrate illness perceptions in their assessment in patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain; a qualitative analysis.
abstract: In the past decade, scientific evidence has shown that the biomedical model falls short in the treatment of patients with musculoskeletal pain. To understand musculoskeletal pain and a patient's health behavior and beliefs, physical therapists should assess the illness perceptions of their patients. In this quantitative study, we audiotaped the assessments of 19 primary care physical therapists on 27 patients and analyzed if and how illness perceptions were assessed. The Common Sense Model was used as the theoretical framework. We conclude that some of the domains of the Common Sense Model were frequently asked for (identity, causes and consequences), while others (timeline, treatment control, coherence, emotional representation) were used less frequently or seldom mentioned. The overall impression was that the assessments of the physical therapists were still bio-medically oriented in these patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain.
authors.affiliation: Transcare, Transdisciplinary Pain Management Centre, Pain in Motion Research Group, The Netherlands. Electronic address: info@transcare.nl.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: van Wilgen
authors.affiliation: Hanze University of Applied Sciences, School of Health Care Studies, Physiotherapy Department, Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Anneke
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Beetsma
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Sciences and Physiotherapy (REVAKI), Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium; Pain in Motion Research Group, Department of Health Care Sciences, Artesis University College, Belgium.
authors.forename: Hedwig
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Neels
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Sciences and Physiotherapy (REVAKI), Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium; Pain in Motion Research Group, Department of Health Care Sciences, Artesis University College, Belgium; Pain in Motion Research Group, Department of Human Physiology, Faculty of Physical Education & Physiotherapy, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium.
authors.forename: Nathalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Roussel
authors.affiliation: Pain in Motion Research Group, Department of Human Physiology, Faculty of Physical Education & Physiotherapy, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium; Pain in Motion Research Group, Department of Physiotherapy, Faculty of Physical Education & Physiotherapy, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium.
authors.forename: Jo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nijs
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D059350:Chronic Pain; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D026201:Musculoskeletal Manipulations / Q000379:methods*; D059352:Musculoskeletal Pain / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D010465:Perception; D059825:Physical Therapists / Q000523:psychology*; D011361:Professional Competence; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D011379:Prognosis; D018570:Risk Assessment; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Illness perceptions; Musculoskeletal pain; Qualitative study