Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Kimber, Damien
• Pigott, Tim

Titel

Cauda equina screening in Physiotherapy: A qualitative study of physiotherapists in a community musculoskeletal service

Ist Teil von

• Musculoskeletal science & practice, 2023-06, Vol.65, p.102773, Article 102773

Ort / Verlag

Elsevier Ltd

Erscheinungsjahr

2023

Quelle

Alma/SFX Local Collection

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Cauda Equina Syndrome (CES) is a surgical emergency. With Physiotherapists increasingly taking on first-contact and spinal triage roles, screening for CES must be as thorough and effective as possible. This study explores whether Physiotherapists are asking the correct questions, in the correct way and investigates their experiences when screening for this serious condition. Thirty physiotherapists working in a community musculoskeletal service were purposively sampled and participated in semi-structured interviews. Data was transcribed and thematically analysed. All participants routinely asked bladder, bowel function and saddle anaesthesia screening questions although only 9 routinely asked about sexual function. Whether questions are asked in the correct way has never been studied. Sufficient depth of questioning, using lay terminology and explicit language was achieved by two-thirds of participants. Less than half of the participants framed the questions before asking them and only 5 participants combined all four dimensions. Whilst most clinicians felt comfortable asking general CES questions, half reported feeling uncomfortable when asking about sexual function. Issues around; gender, culture and language were also highlighted. Four main themes emerged from this study; i) Physiotherapists ask the right questions but frequently omit sexual function questions, ii) mostly, Physiotherapists ask CES questions in a way that patients understand however, there needs to be improvement in framing the context of the questions, iii) Physiotherapists generally feel comfortable with CES screening but there is some awkwardness surrounding discussion of sexual function and iv) Physiotherapists perceive there to be barriers to effective CES screening caused by culture and language. •Physiotherapists mostly ask the right CES screening questions.•They do frequently omit questions about sexual function though.•Framing the context of CES screening questions before asking them needs improvement.•Physiotherapists feel comfortable asking most CES screening questions.•Further exploration of perceived culture and language barriers is needed.