1198934_Fernandez,M_2022.pdf (1003.26 kB)
GLA:D (R) Back Australia: a mixed methods feasibility study for implementation
journal contribution
posted on 2022-05-03, 06:58 authored by Matthew Fernandez, Anika Young, Alice Kongsted, Jan Hartvigsen, Christian BartonChristian Barton, Jason WallisJason Wallis, Peter Kent, Greg Kawchuk, Hazel Jenkins, Mark Hancock, Simon D FrenchBackground: Practice-based guidelines recommend patient education and exercise as first-line care for low back pain (LBP); however, these recommendations are not routinely delivered in practice. GLA:D® Back, developed in Denmark to assist clinicians to implement guideline recommendations, offers a structured education and supervised exercise program for people with LBP in addition to a clinical registry to evaluate patient outcomes. In this study we evaluated the feasibility of implementing the GLA:D® Back program in Australia. We considered clinician and patient recruitment and retention, program fidelity, exploring clinicians’ and patients’ experiences with the program, and participant outcome data collection. Methods: Clinicians (chiropractors and physiotherapists) were recruited and participated in a 2-day GLA:D® Back training course. Patients were eligible to participate if they had persistent or recurrent LBP. Feasibility domains included the ability to: (1) recruit clinicians to undergo training; (2) recruit and retain patients in the program; (3) observe program fidelity; and (4) perceive barriers and facilitators for GLA:D® Back implementation. We also collected data related to: (5) clinician confidence, attitudes, and behaviour; and (6) patient self-reported outcomes related to pain, disability, and performance tests. Results: Twenty clinicians (8 chiropractors, 12 physiotherapists) participated in the training, with 55% (11/20) offering GLA:D® Back to their patients. Fifty-seven patients were enrolled in the program, with 67% (38/57) attending the final follow-up assessment. Loss to follow up was mainly due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. We observed program fidelity, with clinicians generally delivering the program as intended. Interviews revealed two clinician themes related to: (i) intervention acceptability; and (ii) barriers and facilitators to implementation. Patient interviews revealed themes related to: (i) intervention acceptability; and (ii) program efficacy. At 3 months follow-up, clinicians demonstrated high treatment confidence and biomedical orientation. Patient outcomes trended towards improvement. Conclusion: GLA:D® Back implementation in Australia appears feasible based on clinician recruitment, program acceptability and potential benefits for patient outcomes from the small sample of participating clinicians and patients. However, COVID-19 impacted patient recruitment, retention, and data collection. To scale-up GLA:D® Back in private and public settings, further work is warranted to address associated barriers, and to leverage facilitators.
Funding
This study was funded by the Macquarie University New Staff (MQNS) grant and the Australia & New Zealand Musculoskeletal (ANZMUSC) Clinical Trials Network Seeding grant. The funders had no role in study design, results interpretation, or manuscript writing.
History
Publication Date
2022-01-01Journal
Chiropractic and Manual TherapiesVolume
30Issue
1Article Number
ARTN 17Pagination
12p.Publisher
BioMed CentralISSN
1328-0384Rights Statement
© The Author(s) 2022. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.Publisher DOI
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ATTITUDESBELIEFSCLINICAL-PRACTICEExerciseFeasibilityImplementationLife Sciences & BiomedicineLow back painMANAGEMENTOUTCOMESPAINPatient educationPRIMARY-CARERehabilitationRELIABILITYRESPONSIVENESSScience & TechnologySelf-managementTESTSCOVID-19Exercise TherapyFeasibility StudiesHumansLow Back PainPandemicsPhysical TherapistsOrthopedics