TY  - JOUR
AU  - Areias, Anabela C
AU  - Janela, Dora
AU  - Molinos, Maria
AU  - Bento, Virgílio
AU  - Moreira, Carolina
AU  - Yanamadala, Vijay
AU  - Cohen, Steven P
AU  - Correia, Fernando Dias
AU  - Costa, Fabíola
PY  - 2024
DA  - 2024/10/29
TI  - Exploring the Importance of Race and Gender Concordance Between Patients and Physical Therapists in Digital Rehabilitation for Musculoskeletal Conditions: Observational, Longitudinal Study
JO  - J Med Internet Res
SP  - e65354
VL  - 26
KW  - musculoskeletal pain
KW  - physical therapy
KW  - telerehabilitation
KW  - eHealth
KW  - racial/ethnic concordance
KW  - patient–provider concordance
KW  - digital rehabilitation
KW  - musculoskeletal conditions
AB  - Background: Race/ethnicity and gender concordance between patients and providers is a potential strategy to improve health care interventions. In digital health, where human interactions occur both synchronously and asynchronously, the effect of concordance between patients and providers is unknown. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the impact of race/ethnicity or gender concordance between patients and physical therapists (PTs) in engagement and the clinical outcomes following a digital care program (DCP) in patients with musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions. Methods: This secondary analysis of 2 prospective longitudinal studies (originally focused on assessing the acceptance, engagement, and clinical outcomes after a remote DCP) examined the impact of both race/ethnicity concordance and gender concordance between patients and PTs on outcomes for a digital intervention for MSK conditions. Outcomes included engagement (measured by the completion rate and communication, assessed by text interactions), satisfaction, and clinical outcomes (response rate, ie, percentage of patients achieving at least a minimal clinically important change in pain, measured by the Numerical Pain Rating Scale [NPRS]; anxiety, measured by the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale [GAD-7]; depression, measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire 9-item [PHQ-9]; and daily activity impairment, measured by the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment [WPAI] questionnaire). Results: Of 71,201 patients, 63.9% (n=45,507) were matched with their PT in terms of race/ethnicity, while 61.2% (n=43,560) were matched for gender. Concordant dyads showed a higher completion rate among White (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1.11, 95% CI 1.05-1.19, P<.001) and Hispanic (aOR 1.27, 95% CI 1.08-1.54, P=.009) groups, as well as women (aOR 1.10, 95% CI 1.06-1.18, P<.001), when compared to discordant dyads. High and similar levels of interaction between patients and PTs were observed across race/ethnicity and gender dyads, except for Asian concordant dyads (adjusted β coefficient 5.32, 95% CI 3.28-7.36, P<.001). Concordance did not affect satisfaction, with high values (>8.52, 95% CI 8.27-8.77) reported across all dyads. Response rates for pain, anxiety, and daily activity impairment were unaffected by race/ethnicity concordance. An exception was observed for depression, with White patients reporting a higher response rate when matched with PTs from other races/ethnicities (aOR 1.20, 95% CI 1.02-1.39, P=.02). In terms of gender, men had a slightly higher pain response rate in discordant dyads (aOR 1.08, 95% CI 1.01-1.15, P=.03) and a higher depression response rate in concordant dyads (aOR 1.23, 95% CI 1.05-1.47, P=.01). Conclusions: Race/ethnicity and gender concordance between patients and PTs does not translate into higher satisfaction or improvement for most clinical outcomes, aside from a positive effect on treatment completion. These results highlight the importance of other PT characteristics, in addition to race/ethnicity or gender concordance, suggesting the potential benefit of experience, languages spoken, and cultural safety training as ways to optimize care. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04092946, NCT05417685; https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05417685, https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT04092946 
SN  - 1438-8871
UR  - https://www.jmir.org/2024/1/e65354
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2196/65354
UR  - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/39470695
DO  - 10.2196/65354
ID  - info:doi/10.2196/65354
ER  -