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A gender perspective on physiotherapy treatment in patients with neck and back pain

Abstract Women report more pain from the musculoskeletal system, and more disability, than do men. As a consequence, women more often seek healthcare than men do, and are more often on sick leave. Research shows that female patients and male patients are treated differently by physicians and that the physician's gender also influenced the choice of treatment. The aim was to study whether the patients’ and/or the physiotherapists’ gender influences physiotherapy treatments for patients with neck and/or low back pain. During 3 days in April 2006, 73 physiotherapists in primary care and private practices collected information on 586 patients with neck and/or low back pain. The information included data on the affected pain sites and the treatment procedures used by the physiotherapist. Baseline data on the physiotherapists were collected with a questionnaire. The results showed that female and male physiotherapists mainly used the same treatment procedures, but with some differences. The female physiotherapists used significantly more acupuncture and procedures directed toward treatment of mental function. They also gave their patients a unique combination of treatment procedures to a greater extent than their male colleagues. The malte physiotherapists used significantly more training of joint mobility. Male and female patients were given the same treatment.