Physical Medicine

System-wide self-management program for chronic low back pain improves function with fewer PT visits

In a public HMO, all physiotherapists across 13 outpatient clinics were trained in the ETMI self-management model for chronic low back pain. Among 4193 patients, 711 (17%) received ETMI-guided care, with good treatment fidelity reported. Compared with usual PT, ETMI produced greater functional improvement and lower fear-avoidance, without additional pain reduction. ETMI patients completed fewer treatment sessions, indicating potential efficiency gains alongside small but meaningful functional benefits. 1

Telehealth GLA:D® for knee OA is likely non-inferior to in-person delivery

This non-inferiority RCT compared telehealth versus in-person group-based GLA:D® exercise and education for knee osteoarthritis. Forty-four participants were randomized before COVID-19 halted recruitment, with high follow-up rates through 24 months. KOOS4 outcomes at 3 and 12 months met the prespecified non-inferiority margin for telehealth compared with in-person care. Worst pain reduction at 3 months favored telehealth, while other secondary outcomes were similar between groups. These data support offering telehealth GLA:D® when in-person access is limited, recognizing the small sample size. 2

Markerless motion-capture app accurately auto-scores standard functional tests in chronic disease

A LiDAR-enabled mobile app was validated against expert scoring for 30-second sit-to-stand, TUG, and SPPB components in 228 adults with chronic conditions. Agreement between the app and certified exercise physiologist was good to excellent for all tests, with ICCs up to 0.995. Overall SPPB scores showed almost perfect agreement, and some balance tests had perfect concordance. Technology-related data loss was low at 3.1%, mainly from poor motion tracking quality. These findings support clinic and potential remote use of the app for scalable, objective functional assessment. 3