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Table 1 Characteristics of 2305 patients consulting for musculoskeletal disorders according to physiotherapy referral status

From: Factors associated with referral to physiotherapists for adult patients consulting for musculoskeletal disorders in primary care; an ancillary study to ECOGEN

 

Total population with MSD symptoms

Physiotherapy referral

No physiotherapy referral

p-value

Patient variables

N = 2305 (%)

N = 456 (%)

Confidence interval 95%

N = 1849 (%)

Confidence interval 95%

 

Age, n (%)

     

0.003

 < 35 years

439 (19.0)

110 (24.1)

[20.2 – 28.0]

329 (17.8)

[16.1 – 19.5]

 

 35–50 years

755 (32.8)

152 (33.3)

[29.0 – 37.7]

603 (32.6)

[30.5 – 34.7]

 

 > 50 years

1111 (48.2)

194 (42.6)

[38.0 – 47.1]

917 (49.6)

[47.3 – 51.9]

 

Gender: Female, n (%)

1382 (60.0)

295 (64.7)

[60.3 – 69.1]

1087 (58.8)

[56.5 – 61.0]

0.024

Profession, n(%)

     

0.049

 Farmer

17 (0.7)

2 (0.4)

[0.0 – 1.0]

15 (0.8)

[0.4 – 1.2]

 

 Self-employed

129 (5.6)

24 (5.3)

[3.2 – 7.3]

105 (5.7)

[4.6 – 6.7]

 

 Managerial staff

169 (7.3)

28 (6.1)

[3.9 – 8.3]

141 (7.6)

[6.4 – 8.8]

 

 Intermediate-level profession

201 (8.7)

56 (12.3)

[9.3 – 15.3]

145 (7.8)

[6.6 – 9.1]

 

 Salaried worker

898 (39.0)

183 (40.1)

[35.6 – 44.6]

715 (38.7)

[36.4 – 40.9]

 

 Manual worker

241 (10.5)

49 (10.7)

[7.9 – 13.6]

192 (10.4)

[8.0 – 11.8]

 

 Retired

302 (13.1)

46 (10.1)

[7.3 – 12.9]

256 (13.8)

[12.3 – 15.4]

 

 Unemployed

348 (15.1)

68 (14.9)

[11.6 – 18.2]

280 (15.1)

[13.5 – 16.8]

 

Compensation for an occupational accident or disease, n (%)

247 (10.7)

50 (11.0)

[8.1 – 13.8]

197 (10.7)

[9.2 – 12.1]

0.914

Consultation duration, mean (standard deviation)

18.23 (11.69)

18.13 (7.94)

[17.4—18.9]

18.25 (12.45)

[17.7 – 18.8]

0.800

  1. Interpretation: Percentages are distributed in column. For example: among the 2 305 patients with MSD symptoms, 24.1% of the patients who were referred to a physiotherapist were aged under 35 years, versus 17.8% of the patients who were not referred to a physiotherapist
  2. MSD Musculoskeletal disorder