Treatment Outcomes Project Summary

The first pilot was a survey questionnaire which resulted in a report from AUT Lecturer, Peter McNair. He identified a number of flaws in the process and proposed a second pilot. The first pilot involved using a variety of forms, the Neck Disability Index, Roland Morris, DASH, Lower Limb Task Index. The second pilot went to just three practices initially and then in Dec 01 was distributed to the NZPPA membership to participate in. It was a functional outcome questionnaire for all injuries/pathologies. The first two pilots questionnaires required completion by both therapist and patient. No report is available on the outcomes of Pilot II, but a third iteration was developed and sent to the NZPPA membership in March 2005, with a request to complete 10 questionnaires per practice by June 05. The cut off for return of forms was extended beyond June, because the return rate had not been high enough. Currently (2007) Peter McNair is holding 80-90 responses. At a meeting with Peter at PNZ conference in May 06, NZPPA agreed that Peter would not proceed with any further analysis of the forms but would hold them meantime.

Since then, NZPPA decided to organise to have some more questionnaires completed to add to the cohort currently held by Peter. The aim is to have a further 150 to give Peter sufficient to collate and analyse. NZPPA hoped the analysis would give a steer on how best to progress the project. Unfortunately, although a timeframe of December was set for completion and return of the questionnaires, they still have not been returned. This is probably because the questionnaire has proved too onerous to complete which is why NZPPA got such a low return in 05 and why this second attempt has not been very successful.

MedTech are interested in adding Treatment Profiles to their Patient Management System software and are willing to work with NZPPA on this.

In 2009, NZPPA handed the Treatment Outcomes project over to Physiotherapy New Zealand.