Patient experiences with physiotherapy for knee osteoarthritis in Australia—a qualitative study

Objective Physiotherapists commonly provide non-surgical care for people with knee osteoarthritis (OA). It is unknown if patients are receiving high-quality physiotherapy their OA. This study aimed to explore the experiences of who had recently received OA in Australia and how these aligned national Clinical Care Standard Design Qualitative using semistructured individual telephone interviews thematic analysis, where themes/subthemes were inductively derived. Questions informed by seven quality statements Knee Standard. Interview data also deductively analysed according Setting Participants recruited from around via Facebook our research volunteer database. Interviews conducted 24 recent experience They required be aged 45 years or above, activity-related pain any knee-related morning stiffness lasted no longer than 30 min. excluded they self-reported inflammatory arthritis and/or undergone replacement surgery affected knee. Results Six themes emerged: (1) presented a pre-existing diagnosis (prior other health professionals; perception adequate knowledge); (2) wide variation access provision (referral pathways; funding models; vs group sessions); (3) seeking functional limitations (knee symptoms; problems); (4) management focused on function exercise (assessment function; various types exercises prescribed; surgery, medications injections doctors; adjunctive treatments); (5) professional personalised (trust confidence; care) (6) postpone prepare surgery. Conclusion Patients’ partly standard, particularly regarding comprehensive assessment, self-management, exercise.