Cost-Effectiveness of Physiotherapy Services for Chronic Condition Management: A Systematic Review of Economic Evaluations Conducted Alongside Randomized Controlled Trials

Purpose: To determine the cost-effectiveness of physiotherapy (PT) to manage individuals with chronic conditions. Method: Design: Systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Eligibility: RCTs with adult participants diagnosed with ≥1 chronic condition, an intervention delivered or supervised by a physiotherapist, including an economic evaluation of the intervention provided. Procedure: Eight databases were searched. Title/abstract screening, full-text review, and data extraction were performed in duplicate. The quality of included studies was assessed using Cochrane's Risk of Bias Assessment 2.0. Results: Fifty-three articles were included in this review. Fifteen compared PT to no PT; 38 compared novel PT to conventional PT. Of the studies comparing PT to no PT, 53% found PT to be cost-effective. Of the studies comparing novel to conventional PT, 55% found novel interventions were cost-effective. Overall, PT was cost-effective in most studies related to arthritis, chronic low back pain, and chronic neck pain. The heterogeneity of study characteristics limited the ability to perform a meta-analysis. Conclusions: Over half of included studies reported PT to be cost-effective. Future high quality RCTs performing rigorous economic evaluations are needed to determine the cost-effectiveness of different interventions delivered or supervised by a PT to prevent disability for those with chronic conditions.