Abstract Introduction This study investigated how physiotherapists’ pain treatment orientations (biopsychosocial or biomedical) influence visual postural assessment of individuals with neck pain, using eye-tracking analysis. Material and methods Physiotherapists ( n = 30) completed the pain attitudes and beliefs scale and were categorised as predominantly ‘biomedical’ or ‘biopsychosocial’ based on the higher score percentage of the subscales. Eye-tracking data were collected while physiotherapists conducted visual postural assessment of participants with ( n = 30) and without ( n = 30) neck pain. Results Physiotherapists with a biopsychosocial orientation exhibited (mean 95%CI) fewer fixation counts in lateral (−2.29 −3.80; −0.78 n) and posterior views (−5.84 −7.62; −4.06 n), lower saccade counts in the posterior view (−4.51 −6.46; −2.56 n) and shorter mean first-time passage on all transitions (ranging from −4.08 −6.28; −1.88 to −14.09 −18.64; −9.54 n) than those with a biomedical orientation. However, they demonstrated longer average fixation durations in all views (anterior: 0.02 0.01; 0.03 seconds, lateral 0.04 0.02; 0.05 seconds) and posterior 0.04 0.03; 0.06 seconds). Almost all transition probabilities differed across physiotherapist groups, with specific positive or negative effects observed across transitions. Mean recurrent time was also lower in physiotherapists with Biopsychosocial orientation (−0.30 −0.53; −0.08 events). Conclusions Biopsychosocial-oriented physiotherapists exhibited more dynamic eye-movement patterns, with faster view transitions and shorter recurrence times, potentially indicating a more holistic approach to postural assessment. Attitudes and beliefs toward pain treatment orientation of physiotherapists, but not the presence of neck pain in patients, significantly influence their visual postural assessment.
Abrahão et al. (Sun,) studied this question.