Montemurro Laury, Carrière Junie S, Durand Marie-José, Coutu Marie-France
Centre for Action in Work Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation (CAPRIT), Université de Sherbrooke - Longueuil Campus, Longueuil, Canada.
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Université de Sherbrooke - Longueuil Campus, Longueuil, Canada.
Musculoskeletal Care. 2025 Jun;23(2):e70109. doi: 10.1002/msc.70109.
The aim of this study was to document physical therapy professionals' expectations regarding the recovery of work-disabled individuals aged 55 and over with a musculoskeletal disorder (MSD).
Using a qualitative descriptive method, semi-structured interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of physical therapy professionals. The Think Aloud method was used with two fictional vignettes describing work-disabled women (a 57-year-old and a 37-year-old) to explore the participants' recovery expectations. The two vignettes were compared to highlight recovery expectations related specifically to ageing workers.
Twelve physical therapy professionals participated. Most reported more unfavourable expectations regarding the recovery of the worker aged 55 and over. Physical therapists indicated that higher anxiety-related symptoms, lower level of engagement, and the effect of ageing on general health lowered their recovery expectations. Also, perceptions of patient psychosocial risk factors were viewed as an important negative influence on recovery expectations. Early-career participants were more likely to perceive the older worker's characteristics as negatively influencing their recovery expectations compared with those of the younger worker.
Results indicate that physical therapists tend to report lower recovery expectations for these older workers. This study offers deeper insight into how patient age may influence clinicians' recovery expectations.
本研究旨在记录物理治疗专业人员对55岁及以上患有肌肉骨骼疾病（MSD）的工作残疾个体恢复情况的期望。
采用定性描述性方法，对物理治疗专业人员的目的样本进行半结构化访谈。使用有声思维法，通过两个描述工作残疾女性（一位57岁和一位37岁）的虚构 vignette 来探讨参与者的恢复期望。对这两个 vignette 进行比较，以突出与老年工作者相关的恢复期望。
12名物理治疗专业人员参与。大多数人对55岁及以上工作者的恢复情况报告了更不利的期望。物理治疗师表示，与焦虑相关的症状较多、参与度较低以及衰老对整体健康的影响降低了他们的恢复期望。此外，对患者心理社会风险因素的认知被视为对恢复期望的重要负面影响。与年轻工作者相比，早期职业参与者更有可能认为老年工作者的特征对他们的恢复期望有负面影响。
结果表明，物理治疗师往往对这些老年工作者的恢复期望较低。本研究更深入地洞察了患者年龄如何影响临床医生的恢复期望。
