Physical Therapy

Physical therapy is delivered through personalized treatment plans tailored to individual needs.

Physical Therapy — Evidence Rating: Moderate to High Quality

Evidence for physical therapy comes from a robust body of literature, including numerous systematic reviews and meta-analyses, often citing moderate-to-high quality evidence for its effectiveness, particularly for musculoskeletal conditions like low back pain and knee osteoarthritis. This evidence is primarily drawn from many randomized controlled trials, with limitations in quality often related to lack of blinding of participants and providers (due to the nature of the intervention). Physical therapy is widely recommended in clinical practice guidelines, and its real-world implementation in health systems is often widespread with strong adoption. Future research opportunities include comparative effectiveness studies between different physical therapy approaches (alone and in combination with other interventions), testing innovative and collaborative care models involving PT, and designing novel implementation strategies to optimize PT success on patient and implementation outcomes.

Evidence-based Scale

PT is delivered through a comprehensive assessment by a licensed physical therapist and the development of an individualized, evidence-based treatment plan. PT may be provided across diverse settings, including outpatient clinics, in-hospital care, dedicated post-surgical rehabilitation settings, and telehealth. PT is most commonly offered as one-on-one care, though group-based care is also growing in use. People receiving PT will work with their physical therapists to identify goals for progress across a treatment plan, with periodic re-evaluation.

PT has been integrated with evidence-based psychotherapy approaches, including Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and Motivational Interviewing, sometimes called “psychologically-informed PT.” These treatments typically incorporate behavioral strategies into PT, including education, goal-setting, problem-solving, and pain-coping skills. A review of evidence suggests that psychologically informed PT may produce greater improvements in pain, disability, and function compared to standard PT in the short-term, but that this evidence is inconsistent and limited.