FysioPol; a new electronical database for development of quality and knowledge in physiotherapy

Abstract

Research question: Is the new FysioPol database useful to explore some core questions in physiotherapy: What characterize patients seeking physiotherapy treatment? Which activity problems do patients report? Which treatment alternatives are used? Will patients improve due to the treatment they receive? Design: Prospective cohort study. Material and methods: Patients at the two clinics are asked to participate in the FysioPol database. A standardized questionnaire is used at baseline and after treatment (9 weeks). Result: A total of 979 patients were asked: 688 (70 %) patients responded to the baseline questionnaire, whereas 516 (75 %) responded after treatment. Most patients were female (66 %) and about 50% were employed. Most patients reported a musculoskeletal disorder (49 %), whereas 24 % of the patients reported several disorders. Other patient groups were heart/lung disease and neurological diseases. Walking/climbing stairs was the most frequently reported activity problem. The main treatment provided were information and individually tailored exercises. After treatment the patients had a statistically significant improvement in work ability, pain intensity, quality of life, emotional distress and activity problems. Conclusion: The FysioPol database is the first quality register of physiotherapy in Norway, and the data from the FysioPol database may be used to assess core physiotherapy issues.

Keywords

• Primary health care
• registries
• quality of health care