Number and frequency of physiotherapy services for motor vehicle-induced whiplash: Interrogating motor accident insurance data 2006–2009

Abstract

This represents the first review of physio-therapy service use based on an insurance dataset. A range of factors were related to high use of physiotherapy services. It is hoped that identifying the mean number and spread of physiotherapy interventions for whiplash associated disorders, and the profile of high users of physiotherapy will help gauge the success of strategies to maximize the efficacy of physiotherapy management of whiplash associated disorders.

Reduction in health service use for whiplash injury after motor vehicle accidents in 2000–2009: Results from a defined population

“…We have not been able to identify any previous reports of the trends in health service use for whiplash injury for comparisons. the use of physiotherapy, the most frequented service in our study, can be compared with a recent report of physiotherapy use by Motor Accident commission claimants in South Australia (16). of the whiplash claimants 60% used at least one physiotherapy service and the median number of sessions was 14.…”

Measuring the quality of allied health services in Australia: is it a case of “the more we learn, the less we know?”

“…There are only a few comparative papers [35][36][37][38] that consider the outcomes and costs of different physiotherapy service consumption models. These papers found similar health outcomes comparing shorter with longer service consumption models and found significantly greater costs and patient dependency associated with the latter.…”

“…This suggests that longer episodes of consumption of allied health care may be more related to market forces than patient health need. 38 Currently there are minimal opportunities at any service delivery monitoring level to link diagnosis (or reason for seeking care) and occasions of service/episodes of AH care. Thus AH service consumption or service quality is rarely evaluated in terms of diagnosis, clinical need, evidencebased practice, or prognosis.…”

Characteristics and status of Korean medicine use in whiplash-associated disorder patients

“…In Australia, TA insurance data studies on the status of hospitalization [11] and physical therapy use for WAD have been conducted [12], while a study on mortality rates by age, sex, and TA type has been performed in India [13]. A survey study of general practitioners (GPs), family physicians, and chiropractors was conducted on the treatment of acute whiplash patients in Canada [14], and in Korea, results of treatment use and case reports on WAD patients visiting Korean medicine clinics and hospitals have been published [15], though few studies had large sample sizes.…”