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142 APPENDICES Physiotherapy
As in other European countries, chest physiotherapy (vibration, percussion, postural drainage ) is used by
Belgian ambulatory physiotherapists to treat acute bronchiolitis in infants/children. The most frequent
treatment modalities were, from the most prevalent to the least: chest percussion (74 ± 09%), education of
the parents (information, advices) (74 ± 09%), assisting coughing (67 ± 10%), aerosol (64 ± 10%), forced
exhalation techniques (61 ± 10%), postural drainage (61 ± 10%), and chest vibration (61 ± 10%). The following
treatment modalities were also common but to a lesser extent: acceleration of expiratory flow (38 ± 10%),
nasopharyngeal decongestion (33 ± 10%), and slow prolonged expiration (31 ± 10%).
1.2.4. Functional tests used in Belgian ambulatory physiotherapy
Clinical tests and functional assessment tools used in Belgian ambulatory physiotherapy to determine the
evolution of patients suffering from the selected conditions were recorded by asking the physiotherapists to
select among a pre-established list the functional tests that they use for each specified condition. The
respondents also had the possibility to specify functional tests not included in the pre-established list (in this
case, the functional tests was labelled as Added functional test: Y , where Y is the name of the functional
test).
Acute low back pain (without radiating pain)
Overall, 325 physiotherapists out of the 367 respondents have indicated the functional tests used to determine
the evolution of patients suffering from acute low back pain without radiating pain. The distribution of
functional tests is presented in Figure 4.9. One functional test 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 clinical tests of the spinal mobility. The most frequent functional tests used by Belgian ambulatory
physiotherapists to assess patients with acute low back pain refer to clinical tests carried out by the
physiotherapists as part of the clinical examination but not (or almost not) documented in the literature. The
most frequent clinical tests used by Belgian ambulatory physiotherapists were, from the most prevalent to the
least: anamnesis (94 ± 03%), observation (94 ± 03%), and palpation (90 ± 03%). Muscle strengthening was also
a clinical test commonly used in ambulatory practice (45 ± 05%). Standardised functional assessment tools
whose metric properties and quality appraisal have been pretty documented (i.e., Roland-Morris Low Back
Pain and Disability questionnaire, Dallas-Pain questionnaire, SF-36 scale) are rarely used by Belgian ambulatory
physiotherapists (cumulated proportion: 03 ± 02%).