Crucial Factors Influencing Health & Recovery in Musculoskeletal Care

Video Runtime: 90 Minutes; Learning Assessment Time: 63 Minutes

Worldwide, musculoskeletal (MSK) disorders are the second most common cause of disability, having increased by 45% from 1990 to 2010. Chronic MSK conditions continue to worsen, and despite millions of dollars in research and thousands of review and guidelines articles, patient-reported outcomes for those with musculoskeletal injuries have worsened over the last 15 years. We now recognize that our lack of progress in achieving better treatment results is rooted in the fact that we have failed to focus on identifying and addressing the factors that really do influence patients’ outcomes. Evidence suggests that recovery from poor health or injury occurs by multidimensional means and that examination and treatment methods should reflect these dimensions. Recent work has outlined five critical assessment domains for addressing pain and disability: 1) nociceptive pain elements, 2) neuropathic pain elements, 3) comorbidities and severe mental health disorders, 4) moods and cognitions, and 5) social and environmental factors. This course addresses the constructs of each of these domains and discusses the best examination topics for each, and it reflects on recovery for patients regardless of acuity of symptoms. Health care practitioners, regardless of background, are targeted within the course topics.