A detailed analysis of how physiotherapists "give" reassurance for patients’ concerns in back pain consultations
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Reassuring patients with low back pain to reduce their concerns is important for good clinical practice. However, guidelines provide little information on how physiotherapists should best deliver reassurance. This study explores how “reassurance” is enacted by physiotherapists and back pain patients during an initial consultation. The research setting was primary care. Twenty initial physiotherapy consultations were video-recorded and transcribed. The patient–physiotherapist interactions were analyzed using conversation analysis, a qualitative observational method. These data highlighted how some physiotherapists gave reassurance directed by what they considered to be important but not always grounded in patients’ expressed concerns. We also observed examples where physiotherapists developed a better understanding of patients’ concerns, which provided more patient-focused and targeted reassurance with less interactional “trouble” and greater patient affiliation. These findings suggest that physiotherapists should develop a good understanding of patients’ concerns, and take them into consideration, before delivering their reassurance. This will require that physiotherapists be responsive to patients’ concerns and adapt their communication to the individual needs of the patient.
Date Issued
2025-06-02
Date Acceptance
2025-01-21
Citation
Qualitative Health Research, 2025
ISSN
1049-7323
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Journal / Book Title
Qualitative Health Research
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2025. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).
License URL
Identifier
10.1177/10497323251320874
Publication Status
Published online
Article Number
10497323251320874
Date Publish Online
2025-06-02