The purpose of this project was to increase awareness among neurologists and residents regarding the symptoms that physical therapists may help manage in patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). After reviewing the literature, I developed a concise handout that can easily be read in a few brief minutes in an exhibit hall setting. This project was conducted in collaboration with my fellow MS Scholar, Cari Eicher. Cari developed the other side of the handout, entitled Fall Prevention in MS. The handout was distributed during the North Carolina Neurological Society (NCNS) annual meeting at the Grandover Resort in Greensboro, NC on February 17th-18th, 2012. The President of the NCNS was kind enough to make two announcements during the two-day meeting to encourage participation in our project.
Please see this link to view the handout: Handout
Prior to reading the handout, the neurologists and residents were asked to fill out a brief pre-survey regarding their contact with patients that have MS, their clinical practice setting, the reasons they currently refer patients with MS to physical therapy, and any barriers that discourage them from referring a patient to PT. After returning the pre-survey, the neurologists and residents were given the handout as well as a post-survey. They were encouraged to read the handout while perusing the exhibit hall or during any breaks and then to fill out the post-survey. The post survey inquired about changes in perceptions of physical therapy for people with MS after reading our handout. A box was available for return of post-surveys in order to encourage more candid responses. Participants were able to enter for a chance to win a Massage Envy gift card if they returned the post-survey and also had access to tasty, home-baked brownies and muffines! The surveys can be viewed at this link: Pre/Post Surveys
For those that found the handout interesting and were curious about our references or requested additional information on physical therapy for people with MS, a supplemental handout was available at our booth: Physical Therapy Supplemental Handout
The evaluation results showed that the majority of neurologists were from the outpatient setting (30/42). For the most part, the neurologists were not referring their patients with MS to physical therapy; 33/42 reported that they refer less than or equal to 50% of patients with MS to PT. Awareness and perceptions of PT seemed to improve based on the post-survey. 27/42 said that they would consider increasing their referrals of people with MS to PT after reading the handout. Many of the neurologists checked several additional symptoms that they would refer for after reading the handout. The biggest potential changes in referral were for fatigue, heat sensitivity management, and the development of a wellness program.
We submitted an abstract with our preliminary plans for this project to the International Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers (CMSC). The abstract was accepted and we will present a poster at the CMSC annual meeting in San Diego, CA May 30th-June 2nd, 2012! http://annualmeeting.mscare.org/
Here is a copy of our abstract: EFFECTS OF A PHYSICAL THERAPY REFERENCE FOR NEUROLOGISTS TREATING MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS
Special Thank You: Karen McCulloch, advisor; Angela Rosenberg, committee member; Ugo Goetzl, committee member
8 Responses to “Managing Symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis”
afay
Thanks, Sarah!
skauk
Hi April,
This is great! It fits so well with a lot of the discussions we have in Practice Issues about increasing other practitioner’s knowledge of physical therapy and what we can offer to their patients. You and Cari have worked so hard and it is really enjoyable to see some of the product. I will definitely keep the supplemental handout as a reference. Congrats on the poster presentation! Sarah
afay
Kmac and Katie,
Please see the additional paragraph on the evaluation data. The results were interesting to me!
April
Karen McCulloch
April, My feedback about the evaluation data I also shared with Cari – can you provide a paragraph about the gist of the evaluation data that you got from the surveys? I’m also interested in how you are going to analyze and package that for the poster, so please link me in when you have those discussions with Angela.
Thanks!
kmac
ssites
That’s great April!! I hope they really get a lot out of your presesntation 🙂
afay
The poster will be on our evaluation data…what changes we found based on the pre/post survey. We wanted to see if the perceptions/awareness of clinicians changed after reading our handout. Verbally, the feedback was really good. Many were surprised that we deal with fatigue and heat sensitivity. The numbers from the survey show that there was a quite a bit of change in awareness of the specific ways that PTs can help people with MS manage symptoms and falls. We are very excited about presenting in San Diego!
ssites
Wow April! What a great project! I know how hard you and Cari must have worked to get this material together and it sounds like it has paid off. The handout materials are very well organized and I think neurologist will learn a great deal from them. That’s exciting you are presenting your poster in San Diego; I know you will educate many clinicians! Will the poster be on the same materials covered in the handouts? Good luck and great capstone project!
Karen McCulloch
Yay April – this is looking great. Youve done a really nice job of giving the “story” of the project and have share they key documents and information necessary. Congratulations!