Physician Referral Patterns to Physical Therapists for Managing Knee Osteoarthritis: A Retrospective Analysis of Electronic Health Records From an Integrated Health System
Authors' conclusion
Physician referrals to PT for a new episode of KOA are infrequent and influenced by patient and practice factors.
Study context
- Population
- Patients with incident knee OA (ICD codes), integrated US health care system, October 2016–September 2017
- Participants
- 9,835 patients
- Outcome
- Frequency and timing of physician referrals to PTs
- Follow-up
- 12 months
Methodological detailselectronic health records, integrated health system, generalized linear mixed models
- Electronic health records
- Integrated health system
- Generalized linear mixed models
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Physician referral to PT
Patients with at least one PT referral
26%
n = 2,550
Days to first referral, median (IQR)
0 (0-34) days
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Early PT referral (within 15 days of incident visit, by index physician)
- Patients with early PT referral
- 16.5% (n = 1,629)
- Less likely for patients with higher or missing knee pain scores and in rural practices
- More likely in women, patients with higher BMI, and counties with a greater supply of licensed physical therapists (PTs)
Original publication
Physician Referral Patterns to Physical Therapists for Managing Knee Osteoarthritis: A Retrospective Analysis of Electronic Health Records From an Integrated Health System. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). Published 14 January 2026. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →