Patient expectations of benefit from physiotherapy and relationship to self-reported outcomes: A pilot study

Research demonstrates that patient expectations have an influence on physiotherapy outcomes, but little is known regarding expectation changes over time. The primary objective of this pragmatic prospective cohort pilot study was to correlate patient expectations at baseline and after 2 weeks of physiotherapy to self-reported patient outcomes at discharge from physiotherapy treatment. Eligible adult patients with a variety of musculoskeletal disorders reported recovery expectations at initial evaluation and after 2 weeks of treatment. Correlations between expectations and self-reported outcome measures were calculated. Seventeen participants completed this study, and made clinically important improvements over the course of care. Expectations at baseline and 2-week time points generally indicated that participants expect to have a positive outcome from physiotherapy treatment. Participants’ baseline expectations were not significantly correlated to outcome measures or clinically important changes. Yet 2-week expectations were significantly correlated with outcomes and the likelihood of achieving clinically important changes in outcome measures. This relationship may be stronger at 2 weeks compared to baseline. Clinicians might consider repeated measuring of patient recovery expectations across the plan of care to best meet patient needs.