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KCE reports vol. 40 APPENDICES Physiotherapy 137
The most frequent treatment modalities applied by Belgian ambulatory physiotherapists to treat patients with
total knee replacement were, from the most prevalent to the least: muscle strengthening (96 ± 03%),
mobilizations (95 ± 03%), gait rehabilitation (91 ± 04%), education of the patient (information, advices) (81 ±
06%), massage (78 ± 06%), home exercises (72 ± 07%), and stretching (55 ± 07%). The following treatment
modalities were also common: contracted-relaxed techniques (49 ± 07%) and cryotherapy (46 ± 07%). Note
that the most frequent electrophysiotherapeutic modality was electric stimulation (58 ± 17% of the
electrophysiotherapeutic modalities).
Hemiplegia / Hemiparesis
Overall, 255 physiotherapists out of the 367 respondents have treated, in the week preceding the receipt of
the questionnaire, at least one patient suffering from hemiplegia/hemiparesis (see Table 4.6). Distribution of
patients age, proportion of males and females, repartition of the delays since the beginning of the
hemiplegia/hemiparesis, and distribution of treatment modalities are presented in Figure 4.6.
Hemiplegia/hemiparesis mainly concerns aged adults. As shown in Table 4.6, the patients mean age was 68 ±
16 years (range: 2 98 years). The prevalence of males was slightly higher than the prevalence of females.
Most of the delays since the beginning of the hemiplegia/hemiparesis are high indicating that this condition
requires a chronic follow-up.
The most frequent treatment modalities applied by Belgian ambulatory physiotherapists to treat patients with
hemiplegia/hemiparesis were, from the most prevalent to the least: mobilizations (95 ± 03%), gait rehabilitation
(83 ± 05%), muscle strengthening (78 ± 05%), balance rehabilitation (76 ± 05%), stretching (70 ± 06%),
education of the patient (information, advices) (59 ± 06%), and functional rehabilitation (i.e., activities of daily
living (ADL)) (53 ± 06%). The following specific movement therapies were moderately common: Bobath
technique (33 ± 06%) and Kabat technique (i.e., proprioceptive neurofacilitation (PNF)) (31 ± 06%). Note that
the most frequent electrophysiotherapeutic modality was electric stimulation (73 ± 17% of the
electrophysiotherapeutic modalities). One treatment modality not included in the pre-established list of the
questionnaire was considered as it was mentioned by at least 10 physiotherapists (see Appendix 4.C). It
concerns massage techniques.