Physiotherapy in Emergency Department: a Service Analysis From a French Hospital

Physiotherapy in Emergency Department: a Service Analysis From a French Hospital

The skills of physiotherapists have been employed to enhance access to optimal care in Emergency Departments (ED). No study has yet been conducted on the practices in France. The primary objective of this study was to describe the French practices of physiotherapy within an ED, and to secondary examine the effect on patient discharge.

A retrospective observational study was conducted on patients who received a referral for physiotherapy in the ED (E-PT) of the Universitarian Hospital of Nantes during a six-month observation period in 2022. A total of 461 medical records were extracted, including patient characteristics and the main chief complaint at the time of admission. Details on the delivery of E-PT were collected, as well as the end status at the exit of the ED. Descriptive statistics were performed to analyse the data. A propensity score analysis examined the association between the patients' status at the exit of the ED and E-PT.

Inclusion Criteria:

• admission in the Emergency Departement
• aged over 18
• refferal for physiotherapy within the Emergency Department

Exclusion Criteria:

• death
• no admission within the Emergency Department (only administrative purposes)