Low Back Pain: Investigation of Biases in Outpatient Canadian Physical Therapy.

Background: Previous research suggested that physical therapy services can be influenced by patient characteristics (age, sex, socioeconomic status) or insurance status rather than their clinical need.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine whether patient-related factors (age, sex, SES) and the source of reimbursement for physical therapy services (insurance status) influence wait time for, frequency of, and duration of physical therapy for low back pain.

Design: This study was an empirical cross-sectional online survey of Canadian physical therapy professionals (defined as including physical therapists and physical rehabilitation specialists).

Methods: A total of 846 physical therapy professionals received 1 of 24 different (and randomly selected) clinical vignettes (ie, patient case scenarios) and completed a 40-item questionnaire about how they would treat the fictional patient in the vignette as well as their professional clinical practice. Each vignette described a patient with low back pain but with variations in patient characteristics (age, sex, socioeconomic status) and insurance status (no insurance, private insurance, Workers' Compensation Board insurance).

Results: The age, sex, and socioeconomic status of the fictional vignette patients did not affect how participants would provide service. However, vignette patients with Workers' Compensation Board insurance would be seen more frequently than those with private insurance or no insurance. When asked explicitly, study participants stated that insurance status, age, and chronicity of the condition were not factors associated with wait time for, frequency of, or duration of treatment.

Limitations: This study used a standardized vignette patient and may not accurately represent physical therapy professionals' actual clinical practice.

Conclusions: There appears to be an implicit professional bias in relation to patients' insurance status; the resulting inequity in service provision highlights the need for further research as a basis for national guidelines to promote equity in access to and provision of quality physical therapy services.