Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2010 Jun;15(3):220-8.
doi: 10.1016/j.math.2009.12.004. Epub 2010 Feb 16.

Barriers to treatment adherence in physiotherapy outpatient clinics: a systematic review

Kirsten Jack  1 , Sionnadh Mairi McLean, Jennifer Klaber Moffett, Eric Gardiner
Affiliations

Barriers to treatment adherence in physiotherapy outpatient clinics: a systematic review

Kirsten Jack et al. Man Ther. 2010 Jun.

Abstract

Poor adherence to treatment can have negative effects on outcomes and healthcare cost. However, little is known about the barriers to treatment adherence within physiotherapy. The aim of this systematic review was to identify barriers to treatment adherence in patients typically managed in musculoskeletal physiotherapy outpatient settings and suggest strategies for reducing their impact. The review included twenty high quality studies investigating barriers to treatment adherence in musculoskeletal populations. There was strong evidence that poor treatment adherence was associated with low levels of physical activity at baseline or in previous weeks, low in-treatment adherence with exercise, low self-efficacy, depression, anxiety, helplessness, poor social support/activity, greater perceived number of barriers to exercise and increased pain levels during exercise. Strategies to overcome these barriers and improve adherence are considered. We found limited evidence for many factors and further high quality research is required to investigate the predictive validity of these potential barriers. Much of the available research has focussed on patient factors and additional research is required to investigate the barriers introduced by health professionals or health organisations, since these factors are also likely to influence patient adherence with treatment.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flow diagram of selection process of studies.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Alewijnse D., Mesters I., Metsemakers J., van den Borne B. Predictors of long-term adherence to pelvic floor muscle exercise therapy among women with urinary incontinence. Health Education Research. 2003;18(5):511–524. - PubMed
    1. Alexandre N.M., Nordin M., Hiebert R., Campello M. Predictors of compliance with short-term treatment among patients with back pain. Pan American Journal of Public Health. 2002;12(2):86–94. - PubMed
    1. Altman D.G., editor. Practical Statistics for Medical Research. Chapman & Hall; London: 1991.
    1. Ariens G.A., van Mechelen W., Bongers P.M., Bouter L.M., van der Wal G. Physical risk factors for neck pain. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health. 2000;26(1):7–19. - PubMed
    1. Bassett S., Petrie K. The effects of treatment goals on patients compliance with physiotherapy exercise programmes. Physiotherapy. 1999;85(3):130–137.

Publication types