185: Impact of video-based initial physiotherapy contact for non-specific pain or mental health disorders

Topic: Clinical Science
Subtopic: Non-specific to any diagnosis, Physiotherapy, Digital Health Technologies , Treatment/management

Background and Aims: Digital solutions are increasingly common in primary care physiotherapy, but it is unclear whether digital assessments of patients with non-specific pain or mental health disorders are efficient. Digital consultations offer potential to improve efficiency and patient experiences, but new methods must be evaluated to understand their impact and ensure care quality. Some assessment components are difficult in video-based consultations, and physiotherapists may only take the patient history and schedule a second face-to-face visit. This study investigates how an initial digital or face-to-face assessment affects the total number of physiotherapist consultations and the format of a possible second visit.

Methods: Register data were extracted for all physiotherapist first consultations in primary care in a large region in western Sweden for the period 2022-2023 for the ICD-10 diagnoses pain unspecified (R52.9) and for selected mental health diagnoses (F41.9, F43.9, Z73.3, F43.8, F412, Z73.9). Descriptive statistics, correlation and regression analyses were used to examine the association between the format of the first contact consultation (video-based or face-to-face) and the following care delivery. Mean total consultations, proportion of cases with only a single consultation and format of a possible second visit were compared between groups.

Results: Only a small proportion of the patients had a video-based first consultation. Preliminary results show that if the initial visit was video-based, most patients received a face-to-face follow up visit. However, in the mental health group, half of the patients continued with a video-based follow up. If patients had an initial video-based consultation they were more likely to continue with video-based consultations, and the total number of consultations was lower. A large proportion of patients only had one consultation. The proportions of patients with only a single consultation were higher among patients who had a video-based first contact.

Conclusions: The study addresses delivery of effective and equitable physiotherapy in an increasingly digital primary care environment. Patients with a video-based first contact had fewer total physiotherapist consultations across all diagnosis groups, and a higher proportion with only one visit. This may reflect that patients with less complex conditions were directed to/chose video-based consultations. Another possibility is that video-based consultations were either more efficient or less appealing than face to face consultations. If more efficient, fewer consultations were required; if less appealing, more patients may have ended treatment earlier.

References: Bernhardsson S, Larsson A, Bergenheim A, Ho-Henriksson C-M, Ekhammar A, Lange E, et al. Digital physiotherapy assessment vs conventional face-to-face physiotherapy assessment of patients with musculoskeletal disorders: A systematic review. PLoS One. 2023;18(3):e0283013.

Shammout S, Wall R, Murphy PN, Jain K. Virtual clinics versus face-to-face review: Is the benefit the same for new orthopaedic patients? Health policy. 2022;126(7):688-92.

Björndell C, Premberg Å. Physicians’ experiences of video consultation with patients at a public virtual primary care clinic: a qualitative interview study. Scandinavian Journal of Primary Health Care. 2021;39(1):67-76.

Presenting Author: Anette Larsson
Submitting Author: Anette Larsson

Senior Author: Anette Larsson

IASP 2026 Global Year theme of Neuropathic Pain: No

• Anna Bergenheim: Associated professor - Research, Education, Development and Innovation, Primary Health Care, Region Västra Götaland, Sweden
• Malene Brokholm Rod: NA - Närhälsan Mariestad Primary Care Rehabilitation center, Gothenburg, Region Västra Götaland, Sweden
• Sofia Juhlin: PhD - Pain Management Team, Region Västra Götaland, Sweden
• Annika Ekhammar: PhD - Research, Education, Development and Innovation, Primary Health Care, Region Västra Götaland, Sweden
• Lena Nordeman: Associated professor - Research, Education, Development and Innovation, Primary Health Care, Region Västra Götaland, Sweden
• Maria Larsson: Professor - Research, Education, Development and Innovation, Primary Health Care, Region Västra Götaland, Sweden
• Lena Bornhöft: PhD - Research, Education, Development and Innovation, Primary Health Care, Region Västra Götaland, Sweden