title: Determining clinical practice of expert physiotherapy for patients undergoing lumbar spinal fusion: a cross-sectional survey study.
abstract: To determine the content of current Dutch expert hospital physiotherapy practice for patients undergoing lumbar spinal fusion (LSF), to gain insight into expert-based clinical practice.
  
  
  
  At each hospital where LSF is performed, one expert physiotherapist received an e-mailed questionnaire, about pre- and postoperative physiotherapy and discharge after LSF. The level of uniformity in goals and interventions was graded on a scale from no uniformity (50-60 %) to very strong uniformity (91-100 %).
  
  
  
  LSF was performed at 34 of the 67 contacted hospitals. From those 34 hospitals, 28 (82 %) expert physiotherapists completed the survey. Twenty-one percent of the respondents saw patients preoperatively, generally to provide information. Stated postoperative goals and administered interventions focused mainly on performing transfers safely and keeping the patient informed. Outcome measures were scarcely used. There was no uniformity regarding advice on the activities of daily living.
  
  
  
  Dutch perioperative expert physiotherapy for patients undergoing LSF is variable and lacks structural outcome assessment. Studies evaluating the effectiveness of best-practice physiotherapy are warranted.
authors.affiliation: Physiotherapy Program, Health Faculty, Zuyd University of Applied Sciences, Heerlen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Esther R C
authors.initials: ERC
authors.lastname: Janssen
authors.affiliation: Physiotherapy Program, Health Faculty, Zuyd University of Applied Sciences, Heerlen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Elle E M
authors.initials: EEM
authors.lastname: Scheijen
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Research School Caphri, Maastricht University Medical Centre+, Maastricht, The Netherlands.|Healthy Living, TNO, Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Nico L U
authors.initials: NLU
authors.lastname: van Meeteren
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Research School Caphri, Maastricht University Medical Centre+, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Rob A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: de Bie
authors.affiliation: Physiotherapy Program, Health Faculty, Zuyd University of Applied Sciences, Heerlen, The Netherlands.|Department of Physiotherapy, Maastricht University Medical Centre+, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Anton F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Lenssen
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics and Research School Caphri, Maastricht University Medical Centre+, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Paul C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Willems
authors.affiliation: Radboud University Medical Centre, Radboud Institute for Health Sciences, IQ Healthcare, P.O. Box 9101, 6500 HB, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. thomas.hoogeboom@radboudumc.nl.
authors.forename: Thomas J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Hoogeboom
mesh_terms: D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D055805:Moving and Lifting Patients; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013123:Spinal Fusion / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Health surveys; Physical therapy modalities; Rehabilitation