Patient and Clinician Preferences for Post-Rehabilitation Physical Activity Support in Knee, Hip, and Low-Back Pain Management – A Cross-Sectional Study

OBJECTIVE: To investigate knee/hip osteoarthritis (OA) and low-back pain (LBP) patient preferences for strategies to maintain physical activity after in-person rehabilitation, and the strategies recommended by clinicians. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey study. METHODS: We recruited patients with knee/hip OA and LBP at two Good Life with osteoArthritis in Denmark (GLA:D®) facilities and invited clinicians delivering physical rehabilitation for these diagnoses via e-mails and social media. The survey occurred between April-June 2025. Questionnaires for patients and clinicians both contained 11 strategies for maintaining patients' physical activity levels informed by a systematic review. Participants could rate their preferences on a nine-point Likert scale from “Disagree” to “Agree” and provide additional comments. We summarized the data descriptively. RESULTS: Twenty-five patients and 52 clinicians completed the questionnaires. The patients’ mean age was 75.5 years, 88% were women. 92% preferred exercise therapy alone and 76% preferred in-person interventions for physical activity maintenance. The clinicians had varying experience working with patients with OA and LBP, had a mean age of 44.5 years, 60% were women, and 64% of them recommended combining exercise and self-management interventions for physical activity maintenance. Additional comments from both groups highlighted preferences for focusing on social environment (i.e. group exercising), individual preferences and motivations. CONCLUSION: After in-person rehabilitation, patients more frequently preferred in-person exercise therapy, while clinicians more frequently preferred recommending exercise therapy with self-management support. These findings should be interpreted with caution given the small sample size.