Background: Information on the current practices and quantification of lymphedema service may be beneficial to promote and improve health care system. Therefore, this study aimed to describe characteristics of lymphedema practitioners, and lymphedema patients’ profile, and provide a comprehensive picture of lymphedema service provision in Saudi Arabia. Methods: A cross-sectional study involved use of an online survey. The survey questionnaires included information about demographic and professional characteristics of lymphedema practitioners, lymphedema profile, questions on the services provided, and perceived barriers in providing a service. Results: Eighteen lymphedema practitioners (37.50%) responded to the survey. They worked in the major cities: Riyadh (78%), Jeddah (17%), and Dammam (5%), and most of them working in public hospitals (67%). Respondents typically had a background in physical or occupational therapy and had completed a basic training course on lymphedema treatment and management. About 75% of patients seen by practitioners had secondary lymphedema, 47% with breast cancer-related lymphedema. On average 72%, practitioners provide a “comprehensive” lymphedema services. The average number of lymphedema practitioners per service is 2.67. The perceived barriers reported included an inadequate number of certified therapists (100%), difficulties with transportation and lack of financial support (each =72%), and limited space for lymphedema practice/management (89%). Conclusion: The results suggest that lymphedema practitioners provide a reasonable, but not the optimal, services for lymphedema patients. The service provision is still limited and inequities. Therefore, more staffing is required to promote awareness of the condition and related services, improve referral and care coordination, and enhancing geographical and multidisciplinary coordination of the service.
Information on the current practices and quantification of lymphedema service may be beneficial to promote and improve the current health care system.Therefore, this study aimed to describe the characteristics of lymphedema practitioners, and lymphedema patients' profiles, and provide a comprehensive picture of lymphedema service provision in Saudi Arabia. A cross-sectional study design used an online survey to gather data. The survey included information about demographic and professional characteristics of lymphedema practitioners, lymphedema profiles, questions on the services provided, and perceived barriers in providing services. Eighteen lymphedema practitioners (38%) responded to the survey. Most of the respondents were physical therapists (94%), who had completed 135 hours of basic training course, and were certified as lymphedema therapists (89%). Most of these practitioners were in Riyadh (58%), Jeddah (25%), and Dammam (17%). About 75% of patients seen by practitioners had secondary lymphedema, predominately breast cancerrelated lymphedema (47%). The average number of lymphedema practitioners per service is three. The perceived barriers reported included an inadequate number of certified therapists (100%), difficulties with transportation and lack of financial support (each; 72%), and limited space for lymphedema practice/ management (89%). The results suggest lymphedema practitioners provide reasonable services for lymphedema patients; however, services are still limited and needs are unmet. Therefore, more staffing is required to promote awareness of the condition and related services, to develop and implement appropriate educational strategies, and improve geographical and multidisciplinary coordination of the services in Saudi Arabia.
Background: Myofascial pain syndrome (MPS) is a common, costly and often persistent musculoskeletal problem. Radial shockwave (RSW) is one of the most common treatments for MFS. However, there is very low-level evidence to support its short-term benefit, due to poor methodological qualities. Furthermore, previous studies have not considered the experiences of patients regarding this intervention. This study will investigate the effectiveness of RSW compared to a sham (placebo) for patients with MPS and establish the experiences of patients receiving the treatment. Methods: A mixed methods study of a pragmatic randomised controlled trial and semi-structured-interviews that will involve 120 potential participants with MPS is used. The intervention group will receive six sessions of RSW: 1.5 bars, 2000 pulses, frequency 15 Hz. The control group will receive an identical treatment except that they will receive a no-energy shock of 0.3 bar. Results: The outcome measures are a numeric pain scale, neck disability index (NDI), pressure pain threshold (PPT) and SF-12 questionnaires at 4 and 8 weeks’ follow-up between the two groups. Conclusion: The expectation is that this study will add to the body of knowledge required to make effective treatment choices on RSW in the management MFS.
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