Access, delivery and perceived efficacy of physiotherapy and use of complementary and alternative therapies by people with progressive multiple sclerosis in the United Kingdom: An online survey

Abstract

Kingdom: an online survey. AbstractIntroduction: All people with progressive MS in the United Kingdom should have access to

Physiotherapy use and access-barriers in persons with multiple sclerosis: A cross-sectional analysis

“…Comparisons with studies performed in different health care settings, such as the UK, are difficult. The health system differences may at least partially explain why there is little consistency between our findings and those of the survey conducted by Campbell et al (2017). For example, we did not find any evidence in support of lack of mobility, fatigue, Table 2 Confounder adjusted logistic regression model for the full sample to identify factors associated with physiotherapy use in persons with multiple sclerosis.…”

“…The other being that the UK study was a questionnaire specifically asking pwMS about access-barriers, thus assessing this topic more on an individual level, while we were investigating access-barriers on a population level. Notable strengths of our study are: Its comparatively large sample size (Calabrese et al, 2017;Campbell et al, 2017) and the inclusion of persons across the full MS disease spectrum (including newly diagnosed and persons with progressive MS). This was enabled by the provision of paper and online questionnaires in three national languages, as well as the broad support and communication of the Swiss Multiple Sclerosis Society.…”

“…Studies to investigate possible reasons for limited physiotherapy access or uptake have been performed in other countries, but not in Switzerland. For example, Campbell et al reported that physiotherapy access for pwMS is mostly hindered by mobility, fatigue, continence and transport issues and the need of attendance (Campbell et al, 2017). Additionally, distance to travel, pain, difficulty with wheelchair transfers, poor availability of physiotherapy-services, work and family commitments and depression, had been reported as potential barriers (Campbell et al, 2017).…”

“…For example, Campbell et al reported that physiotherapy access for pwMS is mostly hindered by mobility, fatigue, continence and transport issues and the need of attendance (Campbell et al, 2017). Additionally, distance to travel, pain, difficulty with wheelchair transfers, poor availability of physiotherapy-services, work and family commitments and depression, had been reported as potential barriers (Campbell et al, 2017). By contrast, Finlayson et al further reported that living in an urban or suburban community, a deteriorating MS status, experiencing problems with spasticity, having transfer difficulties in the living environment, being hospitalized in the past 6 months, and seeing a family physician, were positively associated with recent use of physiotherapy services (Finlayson et al, 2010).…”

Access to and Use of Clinical Services and Disease-Modifying Therapies by People with Progressive Multiple Sclerosis in the United Kingdom

“…The first asked about access to, experiences with, and opinions of physiotherapy services and complementary therapies in the United Kingdom and has been described elsewhere. 16 The second section asked whether a participant had access to an MS specialist, defined as a clinician with MS specialist skills. Participants were also asked which clinicians they consulted in the previous 3 months for their MS.…”