학술논문

Review article: A scoping review of physiotherapists in the adult emergency department.
Document Type
Article
Source
Emergency Medicine Australasia. Feb2019, Vol. 31 Issue 1, p43-57. 15p. 1 Diagram, 4 Charts, 1 Graph.
Subject
*EDUCATION of physical therapists
*CINAHL database
*CLINICAL competence
*COST effectiveness
*HOSPITAL emergency services
*MEDICAL information storage & retrieval systems
*MEDICAL care
*MEDLINE
*ONLINE information services
*PATIENTS
*PATIENT safety
*SURVEYS
*SYSTEMATIC reviews
*DECISION making in clinical medicine
*LITERATURE reviews
*OCCUPATIONAL roles
TREATMENT of musculoskeletal system diseases
Language
ISSN
1742-6731
Abstract
To provide an overview of the literature that considers physiotherapists working in the ED in relation to their roles, training levels, patient profile, safety, effectiveness, efficiency, cost‐effectiveness and the provision of low‐value care. We performed a scoping review of the literature. Four databases (PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL and Cochrane CENTRAL) were searched from their inception to December 2016 and we updated searches on PubMed in September 2017. Two reviewers independently screened studies for eligibility. We performed a narrative synthesis of quantitative data. We included 27 studies: five randomised controlled trials (n = 1434), 12 prospective observational studies (n = 153 767), six retrospective studies (n = 9968), two survey studies (n = 61), one case report (n = 3) and one qualitative study (n = 11). Physiotherapists primarily managed patients with low urgency musculoskeletal conditions. Physiotherapists appeared to have similar clinical effectiveness and costs compared to other health providers (four randomised controlled trials). Physiotherapists were associated with increased efficiency (eight observational studies) and reduced low‐value care (one observational study). Three observational studies reported very low adverse event rates. However, none of the studies followed participants to measure adverse events that became apparent after the ED visit, nor did they consider unsafe discharge decisions or suboptimal follow‐up care. The available evidence suggests that physiotherapists may be as effective as other health providers in managing low urgency musculoskeletal conditions in the ED. There is uncertainty about appropriate training and a lack of robust studies investigating the efficiency, safety and cost‐effectiveness of this model of care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]