Prescription of physical therapy for patients with rheumatoid diseases

Johanna Callhoff and Katinka Albrecht from the Working Group on Health Services Research used claims data to investigate how often physical therapy was prescribed in recent years in cases of an inflammatory rheumatic diagnosis. Slightly less than half of all persons with diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis, axial spondyloarthritis, psoriatic arthritis or systemic lupus erythematosus received an outpatient prescription for physical therapy within a calendar year. Physiotherapy was prescribed most frequently, followed by manual therapy and thermotherapy.

Physiotherapy, massages and other treatments such as heat or cold therapy are part of physical therapy for rheumatic diseases. By alleviating pain, improving mobility, strengthening muscles and relieving tension, the treatments can improve mobility and functionality in everyday life and contribute to a relevant increase in the quality of life of those affected by rheumatism.

Despite efforts to simplify prescribing for rheumatic diseases (e.g. through the possibility of extrabudgetary billing), the proportion of patients with physical treatment as well as the number of prescriptions have hardly increased in the last 15 years. Further efforts are necessary to make physical therapy available to further patients with rheumatic diseases.

The study was supported by the Wolfgang Schulze Foundation and was conducted in cooperation with the BARMER health insurance company.

The Wolfgang Schulze Foundation was established in 2002 to financially support research in the field of inflammatory rheumatic diseases. The foundation is administered by the Deutsche Rheuma-Liga e.V.