Page 105 - THE PERCEPT STUDY Illness Perceptions in Physiotherapy Edwin de Raaij

However, this does not rule out a value for IPs in MSP, as their possible role as mediators has yet to be researched. Other research designs, such as Single-Case Experimental Designs, have been shown to be of value when looking for relevant factors for recovery from low back pain 10,33.
In this study, treatment followed KGNF guidelines or, when not relevant, the physical therapist’s usual practice. Therefore, specific interventions aimed at patients’ beliefs cannot be assumed to have taken place. This could influence existing poor recovery outcomes of 39% for PI, 55% for PF and 30% for GPE. Tailoring interventions that match specific risk factors and patients’ needs has recently brought forward as a preventative strategy for the transition of acute to chronic low back pain 26, so matching interventions with patients’ high baseline IPs is conceivable. We recommend future research into the feasibility and effectiveness of an illness perception-based physiotherapy intervention for patients with disabling MSP.
Conclusion
Based on the findings of this explorative study, assessing baseline IPs, over and above the known generic prognostic factors, does not result in a substantial improvement in the predic- tion of poor recovery. Also, no recommendations can be given for preference between the 4DSQ and the Brief IPQ-DLV to assess psychological factors.
The role of IPs as possible mediators has still to be researched. We recommend future research with suitable designs that can look at changeability and possible effectiveness of high IPs on PI, PF and GPE in patients with musculoskeletal pain.
Acknowledgements
Special acknowledgement to the physiotherapists at twenty-eight primary care physiotherapy clinics across the Netherlands, who participated in the data collection as part of their Master of Physiotherapy study at the University of Applied Sciences Utrecht. Also, we thank J. Pool for his support during the initial phase of data collection.
Thanks to Les Hearn for scientific proofreading and English editing (les_hearn@yahoo.co.uk).
A multi-center longitudinal study
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