Characteristics of therapeutic alliance in musculoskeletal ...

RESEARCH ARTICLE Open Access

Characteristics of therapeutic alliance inmusculoskeletal physiotherapy andoccupational therapy practice: a scopingreview of the literatureFolarin Babatunde1*, Joy MacDermid1,2,3 and Norma MacIntyre1

Abstract

Background: Most conventional treatment for musculoskeletal conditions continue to show moderate effects,prompting calls for ways to increase effectiveness, including drawing from strategies used across other healthconditions. Therapeutic alliance refers to the relational processes at play in treatment which can act in combination orindependently of specific interventions. Current evidence guiding the use of therapeutic alliance in health care ariseslargely from psychotherapy and medicine literature. The objective of this review was to map out the available literatureon therapeutic alliance conceptual frameworks, themes, measures and determinants in musculoskeletal rehabilitationacross physiotherapy and occupational therapy disciplines.

Methods: A scoping review of the literature published in English since inception to July 2015 was conducted usingMedline, EMBASE, PsychINFO, PEDro, SportDISCUS, AMED, OTSeeker, AMED and the grey literature. A key search termstrategy was employed using “physiotherapy”, “occupational therapy”, “therapeutic alliance”, and “musculoskeletal” toidentify relevant studies. All searches were performed between December 2014 and July 2015 with an updatedsearch on January 2017. Two investigators screened article title, abstract and full text review for articles meetingthe inclusion criteria and extracted therapeutic alliance data and details of each study.

Results: One hundred and thirty articles met the inclusion criteria including quantitative (33%), qualitative (39%),mixed methods (7%) and reviews and discussions (23%) and most data came from the USA (23%). Randomized trialsand systematic reviews were 4.6 and 2.3% respectively. Low back pain condition (22%) and primary care (30.7%) werethe most reported condition and setting respectively. One theory, 9 frameworks, 26 models, 8 themes and 42subthemes of therapeutic alliance were identified. Twenty-six measures were identified; the Working Alliance Inventory(WAI) was the most utilized measure (13%). Most of the therapeutic alliance themes extracted were from patientperspectives. The relationship between adherence and therapeutic alliance was examined by 26 articles of which 57%showed some correlation between therapeutic alliance and adherence. Age moderated the relationship betweentherapeutic alliance and adherence with younger individuals and an autonomy support environment reportingimproved adherence. Prioritized goals, autonomy support and motivation were facilitators of therapeutic alliance.

Conclusion: Therapeutic Alliance has been studied in a limited extent in the rehabilitation literature with conflictingframeworks and findings. Potential benefits described for enhancing therapeutic alliance might include better exerciseadherence. Several knowledge gaps have been identified with a potential for generating future research priorities fortherapeutic alliance in musculoskeletal rehabilitation.

Keywords: Therapeutic alliance, Musculoskeletal, Physiotherapy, Occupational therapy, Service delivery

* Correspondence: [email protected]; [email protected] of rehabilitation Science, McMaster University, 1400 Main StreetWest, Hamilton, ON L8S 1C7, CanadaFull list of author information is available at the end of the article

© The Author(s). 2017 Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, andreproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link tothe Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver(http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.

Babatunde et al. BMC Health Services Research (2017) 17:375 DOI 10.1186/s12913-017-2311-3

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BackgroundConventional treatments such as exercise commonlyused in the management of musculoskeletal (MSK)conditions continue to show only moderate effects [1–3].Research aimed at improving the effectiveness of treat-ment for MSK conditions should extend beyond conditionspecific interventions to include more general mediatorsof treatment such as communication or psychologicalinteractions between patients and clinicians. One aspectof this is therapeutic alliance (TA) which has beendescribed as the working relationship or positive socialconnection between the patient and the therapist [4] andestablished between therapist and client through collabor-ation, communication, therapist empathy, and mutualrespect [5]. TA is a central component of the therapeuticprocess and is a determinant of treatment outcome [6, 7].The origin of TA dates to back to Freud’s theory oftransference and countertransference [6]. According toBordin [4], TA can be applied to all change situationsindependent of the treatment modality and proposed atripartite model of TA [8] consisting of three essentialelements: agreement on the goals of the treatment,agreement on the tasks, and the development of apersonal bond (reciprocal positive feelings) between theclient and therapist.TA has been studied extensively across a range of psy-

chotherapy treatment modalities and aetiologies [9, 10]with recent findings showing a correlation with satisfac-tion, quality of life [11], psychological well-being [12],and symptom improvement [7]. Studies in medicineshow that TA influences chronic disease care [13],improves adherence, satisfaction and quality of life [14],enhances communication [15, 16] and impacts decisionquality [17]. This is opposed to recent interest in alliedhealth disciplines like physiotherapy (PT) [20, 21] andoccupational therapy (OT) [22]. Findings from physicalrehabilitation show that TA is linked to engagement instroke rehabilitation [16] and treatment outcomes incardiac [17] and musculoskeletal (MSK) [18, 19] re-habilitation. It is notable that many studies used a TAconceptualization and outcome measures developedfrom psychotherapy and did not address TA as aprimary research area. It also remains difficult to decideif outcomes are determined by specific techniques,mechanism of action or general processes like the TA[23]. This continues to limit the application of TAconceptualization from psychotherapy to PT and OT.Furthermore, it remains unclear whether patient or

therapist characteristics most determine outcome [24]and despite similarities, patient and therapist views ofthe key factors for effective TA may differ in importantways [25]. For example, it has been reported that clientsview the TA in terms of collaborative work relationship,active commitment, bond, productive work, confident

progress and agreement on goals/tasks while therapistsfocused on therapist confidence and dedication, clientcommitment and confidence, client working ability, andcollaborative work relationship [25]. Thus, clients placegreater emphasis on helpfulness, joint participation intherapy and negative signs of TA compared to therapists.Adherence is a patient characteristic linked to thera-peutic change and considered an area of priority in MSKresearch and practice [26–28]. In physical rehabilitation,adherence has the potential to unlock some of the prob-lems associated with understanding how TA exert itseffect. Recent evidence shows TA may be the best pre-dictor of adherence to exercise in MSK PT practice [29]and facilitator of patient engagement in OT practice[30]. Identifying the components of therapy responsiblefor symptomatic change would aid in the theoreticalunderstanding of the processes underlying therapeuticchange, improve practice and support development ofeffective practice [31]. Delineating the role of TA as amediator, predictor or moderator of adherence mayenhance understanding of TA as a therapeutic agent inMSK practice [32].Based on these shortcomings in the TA literature, a

comprehensive review of primary research in TA isrequired to map the breadth of literature for MSK con-ditions to advance knowledge in the following areas:conceptualization, active ingredients, psychometricallysound measures, mechanism of effect, and the mediat-ing, moderating or predicting effect of TA on adherence.To this end, we conducted a scoping review of TA inMSK practice informed by the disciplines of OT and PT.The purpose of the study was to describe the type ofresearch conducted to investigate the relationshipbetween TA and rehabilitation of MSK conditions. Specif-ically, this review intends to describe to what extent theliterature has theoretical underpinnings or a commonunderstanding of what constitutes TA, has addressed therelationship between TA and adherence to treatment ortreatment outcomes and how TA is measured.

MethodsThis scoping review was informed by Levac et al. [33]and Arksey and O’Malley [34] methodology. Scopingreviews are used to answer broad questions, synthesiseinformation from a heterogeneous data pool or assesswhether the literature is amenable to systematic review[35, 36]. This review employed the five-stage frameworkas outlined by Arksey and O’Malley: 1) identifying theresearch question, 2) identifying relevant studies, 3) select-ing the studies, 4) charting the data (data extraction), and5) collating, summarising and reporting the results. Report-ing the results includes the use of numerical summariesthat describe study characteristics. Levac et al’s recommen-dations focus on clarifying and enhancing each stage of the

Babatunde et al. BMC Health Services Research (2017) 17:375 of 23

framework as follows: (stage 1) expounding and linking theresearch purpose and question; (stage 2) harmonizingfeasibility, breadth and comprehensiveness of the scopingprocess; (stages 3 and 4) using an iterative team approachfor study selection and data extraction; (stage 5) integratinga numerical summary and qualitative thematic analysis,reporting results, and considering the implications of find-ings to policy, practice, or research; and (stage 6) incorpor-ating a knowledge translation strategy though consultationwith stakeholders.

Identifying relevant articlesIn consultation with a librarian, a search strategy wasdeveloped to identify publications addressing TA. Theevidence was searched using electronic databases, refer-ences lists, and by hand searching key journals. Litera-ture search for physiotherapy or occupational therapywere completed to identify experimental studies that dis-cussed or investigated the relationship between TA andadherence to exercise in the management of adults withMSK conditions. Using a combination of key words andmedical subject (MeSH) terms (Table 1) related to TA,eight databases were searched: MEDLINE, PsychINFO,Embase, AMED, SportDISCUS, REHABDATA, PEDroand OTseeker. The search strategy was customized toeach database. A manual search of the reference lists ofidentified articles was also conducted. A sample searchstrategy for the search is outlined in Table 1. Allsearches were performed between July 2015 and

September 2015 using a combination of search terms(Table 1). An updated search was done in January 2017.

Study selectionAfter the initial search was completed abstracts andtitles from the database searches were screened forrelevance by the first reviewer (F.B.) and selected if theymet the following criteria: [1] quantitative, qualitative ormixed methods data in a peer-reviewed journal, [2] system-atic reviews and meta-synthesis, [3] experiences and/orperspectives of the therapist, observer and/or patient,[4] highlight TA or an aspect of TA as the main con-ceptual focus of the article, [5] findings relevant toMSK rehabilitation from adult population, [6] Englishlanguage articles. Studies were excluded if they reportedmixed population data without clearly highlighting MSKconditions or involved surgical and medical interventionsalone. All references were imported to EndNote X7 soft-ware© and all duplicates deleted. Full texts of potentiallyrelevant articles were retrieved and scrutinized by the firstauthor (F.B.) and second author (J.M.) for consensusbefore final inclusion in the study.

Data abstractionData related to TA were extracted from articles meet-ing the inclusion criteria by the lead author (FB) andreviewed by a second author (JM). Each article wasfirst categorized based on study methods (quantita-tive, qualitative, mixed-methods, systematic review ormeta-synthesis, narrative reviews or discussion paper)

Table 1 Sample search Terms and Search Strategy

Therapeutic Alliance Adherence Rehabilitation Musculoskeletal Diseases (MSK)

Key words Key words Key words Key words

[1] Therapeutic alliance (MeSHexploded not focused) (keyword)

[12] Adherence (MeSH explodednot focused) (keyword)

[22] Rehabilitation (explodenot focused) (keyword)

[29] Musculoskeletal diseases(MESH exploded not focuses)(keyword)

[2] Patient therapist relationship [13] Adherea (keyword) [23] Physiotherapya [30] MSK (keyword)

[14] compliance [24] Physical therapya [31] List diseases if you like

[3] Working alliance [15] behaviour [25] Exercise Combine 29 or 30 or….. ➔ 31

[4] Therapeutic relationship [16] behavior [26] Exercise therapy

[17] concordance Combine 22 or 23 or 24 or25 or 26 ➔ 27

aCombine 28 and 31

[5] Collaboration Combine 12 or 13 or 14 or 15or 16 or 17 ➔ 18

aAdd limitations (Inception toMay, 2015, Adults aged 18 andabove, humans, English Language,real patient and therapists)

[6] Helping alliance 28. Combine 21 and 27

[7] Patient acceptance of healthcare (descriptors)

19. Combine 11 and 18

20. Adherence – MeSH + Group2 MeSH[8] Attitude

[9] Bond 21. Combine 19 or 20

[10] Collaboration

Combine 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 or6 or 7 or 8 or 9 or 10➔ 11aThis was substituted with occupational therapy or vocational rehabilitation in a separate search


and level of care (primary, secondary, rehabilitation,private, community, home care, long term care). Thefollowing information was extracted and synthesisedin summary format from the articles: authorship, pub-lication year, country, setting, discipline, aims, design,participants, themes, and findings. Secondary dataextracted included information on the conceptualizationof TA; frameworks, theories or models, relationshipbetween TA and adherence to exercise, measures of TAand participant perspectives on TA themes.

AnalysisDescriptive statistics were calculated to summarize thedata. Frequencies and percentages were used to describenominal data (study characteristics, themes, measures).A narrative synthesis approach [37, 38] facilitated themapping of the core themes of TA that emerged fromthis review. We used a thematic analysis to gather infor-mation and identify all TA themes. Inductive analysiswas adapted and followed 3 stages: 1) extracting findingsand coding findings for each article, 2) grouping of find-ings (codes) according to the topical similarity to deter-mine whether findings confirm, extend, or refute eachother; and 3) abstraction of findings (analyse groupedfindings to identify additional patterns, overlaps, compari-sons, and redundancies to form a set of concise state-ments that capture the content of findings).

ResultsThe initial literature search of the TA literature resulted inan identification of 2795 titles. Of these titles, 691 wereduplicates, 189 were book titles, 24 were non-Englishlanguage articles and 482 did include an exercise or phys-ical activity component. An additional 1279 were removedbecause they did not meet the eligibility criteria: letters,

commentaries, editorials or conference abstracts (n = 426),titles from nursing (n = 160) and medicine (n = 263) andtitles from psychotherapy (n = 430) literature. After finalabstract and full text screening, 130 articles were selectedas listed in (1 s–130 s) (See Additional file 1). The flow ofarticles through the review is shown in Fig. 1.

Study characteristicsParticipants included 7,018 patients, 1225 OTs and 994PTs. By country, most of the publications originatedfrom the USA (23%) or Australia (16.9%). By continent,Europe accounted for 44.6% of the studies as comparedto 30% from North America and 23% from Australasia.There was only one study published in South America,only 2 studies from Asia and none from Africa. Theearliest study dates to a 1981 with an increase in publi-cations (n = 46) between 2011 and 2016 and most of thestudies originated from the PT discipline as depicted inFig. 2. The most reported settings were primary care(34%) and outpatients (25%). Spinal (25%) and degenera-tive joint (21%) conditions were the most reportedhealth condition studied. In some cases (19%) the detailsof the condition treated were not reported. All but twoof the experimental studies were from the PT literature(Additional file 1).

Study designOverall, there were more quantitative (n = 43, 33%) thanqualitative studies (n = 51, 39%) as shown in Table 2.Mixed method studies accounted for 7% and the remain-der were narrative reviews and opinion papers (23%).Amongst PT studies there were similar amounts ofquantitative and qualitative research; 77% versus 80%respectively. Experimental studies represented 4.6% ofthe eligible studies as compared to correlational (9.2%)

Abstract Review (n=600)

Title Review (n=1350)

Full Text Screening(n=235)

Included Articles(n=130)(PT=93, OT=20, PT+OT=17)

Initial title screen (n=1445)

Excluded based on title (n=750)

Excluded based on full text (n=105)

Excluded based on abstract(n=335)

Papers identified and screened(n=2795)

Fig. 1 Search and screen of articles flow chart


and descriptive (17%) studies. Survey studies represented9.2% and measurement studies was 5.3%. There was var-ied qualitative study methodologies including groundedtheory (10%), phenomenology (16.9%), narratives (6.1%),ethnography (1.5%), case studies (2.3%), nominal grouptechnique (1.5%) and symbolic interactionism (0.7%).Semi-structured interviews (17.6%) and focus groups(7.7%) were the most reported data collection techniques.

Conceptualization of therapeutic allianceSeveral theories, models and frameworks related to TAwere identified from 16 studies in the literature asshown in Table 3. There were 18 models represented inthe literature including model of human occupation,health belief model, health locus of control, ecologicalmodel of adherence, transtheoretical model, self-regulationmodel, tripartite efficacy model, process model of collabor-ation, biopsychosocial model, consumer model, model ofempathic understanding, resource conservation model,self-management model, model of helping encounter, In-formation-Motivation-Behavioral model, Gelso andCater model, model of physiotherapist-patient interac-tions and independent living model. Eleven frameworkswere reported and represented concepts from healthbehaviour change, compliance, illness perception, self-efficacy, patient beliefs, patient-centred care, satisfaction,helping, and partnership (Table 3). Three theories werelinked to TA (Table 3) including self-determination theory(SDT), self-efficacy theory and social learning theory. SDTwas the only theory with reported empirical evidence ofeffectiveness for promoting therapists’ supportive behaviorduring clinical practice in MSK PT practice [63].

Therapeutic alliance themesThe initial coding of the 130 eligible articles resulted in44 codes, which were reduced and organized into 8themes: congruence, connectedness, communication,expectation, influencing factors, individualized therapy,

partnership, and roles and responsibilities and de-scribed in (See Additional file 2). Table 4 shows thatagreement on goals (32%) was the most reported aspectof congruence. Friendliness (21%) was the most re-ported characteristic of connectedness followed by aperception of a good relationship and genuine interestor concern at 14%. Clarity of information (26%), activelistening (39%) and nonverbal skills (24%) were themost represented characteristics of communication. Ex-pectation was approximately equally represented withregards to both therapy (25%) and outcome (22%). Ex-ternal factors (17%) and therapist skill and competence(30%) were the most identified influencing factors. Pa-tient life experiences (11%) and willingness to engage(11%) were the most reported patient prerequisite. Be-ing responsive and holistic practice were important toindividualized therapy (14.6%). Mutual understanding(23%) and active involvement (28%) were the most im-portant partnership characteristics. Therapist ability toactivate patient resources (13.1%) and motivating or en-couraging patients (26%) were the most reported role andresponsibility.

Therapeutic alliance outcome measuresTwenty-seven measures were identified in 37 studies asshown in Table 5. Six studies were from OT literatureand 4 involved both OT and PT participants. Psycho-metric properties were reported for 21 measures (77%)from 28 studies. The Working Alliance Inventory (WAI)[39, 40] was the most utilized measure (5 studies)among available studies. Other alliance-type measures(3 studies) were the working subscale of the PainRehabilitation Expectation Scale (PRES) [41], the HelpingAlliance Questionnaire (HAq) [42], communication pref-erences of patients with chronic illness questionnaire [43]and revised version of the Helping alliance questionnaire[44]. Four measures from 4 studies focused on satisfaction;Medical Interview Satisfaction Scale (MISS) [45], Health

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

1981-1985 1986-1990 1991-1995 1996-2000 2001-2005 2006-2010 2011-2017

Nu

mb

er o

f T

itle

sAll

PT

OT

PT/OT

Fig. 2 Number of studies published in each 5-year period from 1981 to 2016


Care Satisfaction questionnaire [46], MedRisk [47] andPhysiotherapy Outpatient Satisfaction questionnaire [48].Three measures that focused on empathy: Consultation

and Relational Empathy scale [49], Barett-Lennard Rela-tionship scale [50] and Truax Accurate Empathy Scale[51]. One measure focused on communication; the

Table 2 Study characteristics

Characteristics Frequency PT OT PT + OT

N (130) (%) (N = 92) (N = 21) (N = 17)

Source country of study

Australia 22 (16.9) 18 2 2

Brazil 1 (0.7) 1 - -

Canada 8 (6.2) 6 2 -

Germany 3 (2) 2 - 1

Hong Kong 2 (1.5) 2 - -

Iceland 2 (1.5) 1 1 -

Ireland 2 (1.5) 2 - -

Netherland 4 (3.1) 4 - -

New Zealand 8 (6.2) 6 - 2

Norway 2 (1.5) 2 - -

Spain 3 (2.3) 3 - -

Switzerland 2 (1.5) 1 - 1

Sweden 12 (9.2) 8 3 1

Turkey 1 (0.7)) 1 - -

United Kingdom 27 (20.8) 23 2 2

USA 31 (23.8) 12 11 8

Study design

Quantitative methods 43 (33.1) 32 6 5

Qualitative methods 51 (39.2) 41 8 2

Mixed methods 8 (6.2) 4 2 2

Narrative review articles/discussion papers 24 (18.5) 11 5 8

Systematic reviews 4 (3.1) 4 - -

Setting

Community 11 (10) 10 1 -

Long term care 1 (3) - 1 -

Outpatient 25 (21) 19 3 1

Occupational Health 3 (4) 3 - 1

Primary care 41 (34) 33 5 3

Private practice 17 (18) 14 3 -

Rehabilitation 15 (10) 8 5 2

Various (multiple settings) 7 (6) 4 3 -

Conditions

Spinal disorders 33 (25.3) 32 - 1

Degenerative disease 27 (20.7) 22 - 2

General Various 19 (14.6) 17 - 2

Wrist/Hand 10 (7.6) 10 - -

Traumatic injury 9 (6.9) 8 1 -

Upper Limb 15 (11.5) 12 2 1

Workplace injury 2 (1.5) 2 - -


Table

3Con

ceptualizationof

therapeutic

alliance

Autho

rCon

text

Orig

inCon

ceptualization

Descriptio

nTherapeutic

Alliance

Them

es

Chanet

al.,2009

(10s)

a Whitlo

cket

al.5A’s

framew

orkof

behaviou

rchange

Existin

gliteratureon

the

self-de

term

ined

motivationand

engage

men

tin

health-promoting

behavior.

bSelf-de

term

inationtheo

ryA.C

ONNEC

T1.Partne

rship

Com

mun

icationstyleand

exercise

compliancein

physiotherapy

2.Con

gruence

Levy

etal.,2008

(30s)

c Physiothe

rapistPsycho

logical

3.Com

mun

ication

4.Person

alized

therapy

Murrayet

al.,2015

(33s)

Supp

ort

B.Ask,A

dvise,Agree,

Assist,Arrange

Che

net

al.,1999

(13s)

a Com

plianceandsatisfaction

with

exercise

Existin

gliteratureandem

pirical

stud

yon

complianceto

home

exercise

inup

perextrem

ityrehabilitation

c Mod

elof

Hum

anOccup

ation

1.Inpu

t1.Com

mun

ication

2.Outpu

t2.Con

nected

ness

c Health

locusof

control

3.Environm

ent

3.Partne

rship

4.Theop

ensystem

4.Influen

cing

factors

c Health

beliefmod

el

Goren

berg

etal.,2014

(109

s)a The

rape

uticuseof

self

Con

ceptualp

racticemod

elfor

occupatio

nalthe

rapy

focused

onun

derstand

ingtherapeutic

useof

self.

c The

Intentional

Relatio

nshipMod

el1.Client

1.Con

nected

ness

2.Interpersonalevents

2.Rolesandrespon

sibilities

3.Practitione

r3.Partne

rship

4.Occup

ationaleng

agem

ent

4.Con

gruence

Harman

etal.,2012

(63s)

a Buildingblocks

ofhe

alth

behavior

change

Existin

gliteratureon

,empirical

stud

iesabou

tbe

haviou

rchange

andlow

back

pain

rehabilitation

c Transtheo

reticalmod

el1.Needforactio

n1.Con

nected

ness

2.Solutio

ns2.Partne

rship

3.Supp

ort

c Motivationalm

odelof

patient

self-managem

ent

3.Redu

cing

threat

4.Partne

rship

5.Con

gruence

Hinman

etal.,2015

(65s)

c Mod

elof

Health

Chang

eExistin

gliteratureon

motivational

interviewing,

solutio

n-focused

coaching

andcogn

itive

behaviou

ral

therapy.

c Dim

ension

sof

health

servicede

livery

1.Practiceprinciples,

1.Con

nected

ness

2.Essentialtechn

iques

2.Con

gruence

3.Step

framew

ork

Hurleyet

al.,2007

(66s)

a Und

erstanding

ofillne

ssParallelp

rocessingframew

orkwith

onearm

dedicatedto

cogn

itive

processing

ofinternalandexternal

stim

ulus

andtheprocessing

ofem

otionalaspectsof

that

stim

ulus.

c Levanthal’sself-regu

latio

nmod

elof

illne

ss1.Iden

tity

1.Con

nected

ness

2.Timeline

2.Partne

rship

3.Con

sequ

ence

3.Influen

cing

factors

4.Cause

5.Con

trol

andcure

6.Illne

sscohe

rence

Jacksonet

al.,2012

(25s)

a Trip

artiteefficacyframew

ork

inclient-the

rapistrehabilitation

interactions

Existin

gliteratureandem

pirical

stud

ieson

efficacybe

liefs

c Trip

artiteefficacymod

el1.Client-related

factors

1.Con

nected

ness

2.Roleandrespon

sibilities

2.Therapistrelatedfactors

bSelf-efficacytheo

ry;

relatio

n-inferred

self-efficacy

3.Person

alized

therapy

4.Em

otionalsup

port

5.Com

mun

ication


Table

3Con

ceptualizationof

therapeutic

alliance(Con

tinued)

Jensen

andLorish,1994

(26s)

a Beh

avioralthe

ory-

based

strategies

foren

hancing

patient

treatm

ent

coop

erationandpatient

beliefs

Existin

gliteratureon

compliance,

decision

-making,

cogn

itive

behavioral

therapyandtheexplanatorymod

elof

exercise

andmailedsurveysto

PTs

c Process

Mod

elof

collabo

ratio

n1.Therapeutic

relatio

nship

1.Con

nected

ness

2.Prob

lem

solving

3.Neg

otiatio

n

4.Mutualenq

uiry

Kidd

etal.,2011

(68s)

a Patient

centredcare

Existin

gliteratureandem

pirical

stud

ieson

patient-cen

tred

care

c Biopsycho

socialmod

el1.Abilityto

commun

icate

1.Con

nected

ness

2.Und

erstanding

ofpe

ople

andability

torelate

2.Partne

rship

c Patientspe

rcep

tionof

ago

odph

ysiotherapist

3.Kn

owledg

eandexpe

rtise

3.Influen

cing

factors

4.Con

fiden

ce4.Com

mun

ication

5.Transparen

tfocuson

prog

ress

andou

tcom

e5.Ro

leandrespon

sibility

Knight

etal.,2010

(29s)

a Client

Satisfaction

Existin

gliteratureon

satisfaction,

andph

ysiotherapyandem

pirical

stud

yon

patient

satisfaction.

c Con

sumer

mod

el1.Service

1.conn

ectedn

ess

2.Satisfaction

2.Influen

cing

factors

3.Dissatisfaction

3.Partne

rship

4.Quality

4.Con

gruence

5.Reason

sforseeking

therapy

5.Com

mun

ication

Neuman

etal.,2009

(116

s)c Effect

mod

elof

empathic

commun

icationin

clinical

encoun

ter

Existin

gliteratureandhypo

thesis

onclinicalem

pathy

c Mod

elof

empathic

unde

rstand

ingandadhe

rence

totreatm

entregimen

s(nature)

1.Cog

nitiveactio

noriented

effects

1.Com

mun

ication

2.Affectiveoriented

effects

2.Partne

rship

Niede

rman

etal.,2011

(34s)

a PictorialR

epresentation

ofIllne

ssandSelfMeasure

Existin

gliteratureon

stress,cop

ing

strategies

andresource

utilizatio

n

c Hob

fil’sresource

conservatio

nmod

el1.Self

1.Activatingresources

bSociallearning

theo

ry2.Resource

2.Treatm

entgo

als

3.Separatio

nc Selfmanagem

ent

Norby

andBellner,1994(76s)

a Dim

ension

sof

helping

Existin

gliteratureandem

piricalstud

yon

basicassumptions

ofoccupatio

nal

therapy

c Ten

tativemod

elof

thehe

lping

encoun

ter

1.BasicProfession

al-Oriented

helping

1.Con

nected

ness

2.Und

erstanding

-Oriented

helping

2.Partne

rship

3.Action-Oriented

helping

3.Rolesandresponsib

ilities

Rado

mski,2011

(118

s)c Ecologicalm

odelfor

adhe

rencein

rehabilitation

Existin

gliteratureon

adhe

renceand

occupatio

nalthe

rapy

c Transtheo

reticalmod

elof

change

1.Person

factors

1.Con

gruence

2.Provider

factors

2.Con

nected

ness

3.Interven

tionfactors

3.Com

mun

ication

bSelf-de

term

inationtheo

ry

4.Techno

logy

4.Influen

cing

factors

5.Social

6.Environm

ental


Table

3Con

ceptualizationof

therapeutic

alliance(Con

tinued)

Scho

ster

etal.,2005

(100

s)c In

form

ation

Existin

gliteratureandem

pirical

stud

ieson

pred

ictin

gHIV-preventive

behaviou

r

c Inform

ation-Motivation-

Behaviou

ralskills

mod

el1.Exercise

inform

ation

1.Con

nected

ness

MotivationandBehaviou

ral

mod

el2.Exercise

motivation

2.Rolesandresponsib

ilities

3.Exercise

behaviou

ralskills

3.Influen

cing

factors.

4.Barriers

4.Partne

rship

5.Exercise

behaviou

r

Szybek

etal.,2000

(121

s)c M

odelof

Physiotherapist-

patient

interactions

Existin

gliteratureon

Psycho

-therapeutic

encoun

ters,w

orking

alliance,transferen

ceandreal

relatio

nships

c Gelso

andCartermod

el1.Interactions

1.Partne

rship

2.Non

-insigh

toriented

therapist

2.Con

gruence

3.Insigh

toriented

therapist

Verkaaiket

al.,2010

(123

s)a Produ

ctivepartne

rship(P2)

framew

ork

Existin

gliteratureon

power

distrib

utionin

partne

rships

c Inde

pend

entlivingmovem

ent

mod

el1.Con

text

1.Partne

rship

2.Pred

ictedcharacteristics

c Con

sumer

directionmod

el3.Auton

omy

4.Kn

owledg

ea Framew

orks

(n=10

),bTh

eorie

s(n

=3),cMod

els(n

=19

)


Medical Communication Behaviour System [52]. Therap-ist support was the focus of 2 measures; the Health CareClimate Questionnaire (HCCQ) [53] (3 studies) and theRelationship Assessment Scale (RAS) (1 study). The Clin-ical Assessment of Modes [54] was used to assess thera-peutic use of self in one study from OT discipline.The Patients’ Experiences in Postacute OutpatientPhysical Therapy Settings [55] was the only measuredeveloped specifically for a rehabilitation setting. Theinformation about and content of each TA measurewas also coded against the themes of TA identified inliterature and the PRES [41] was the only measurereflecting all the eight TA themes. Ten measures(37%) reflected at least 5 TA themes.

Therapeutic alliance and treatment adherenceTwenty-six articles examined the relationship betweenTA and treatment adherence as summarized in Table 6.More quantitative studies (50%) examined adherencecompared to qualitative (42%) and mixed method stud-ies (7.6%). The WAI-12 [39], PRES [41], MISS [45] andHCCQ [53] were the validated TA measures reportedin the literature when investigating the relationshipbetween TA and adherence. The Sports Injury Rehabili-tation Adherence Scale (SIRAS) [56] was the mostreported exercise adherence measure. Two studies(7.6%) reported no change in adherence with enhancedTA compared to 3 studies (11.5%) where improvementin adherence was reported. Improved patient-therapistrelationship accounted for 18–23% of the variance inpatient adherence. Patients and therapists acknowledgethat effective communication improved adherence.Therapists (PT) reported that pleasing the therapist,activating patient resources and connectedness, faith inthe therapist and shared goals are reasons for improvedadherence. In, one study patients reported enhancedTA was not important for improved adherence. How-ever, in other studies (53.8%) patients, TA characteristicspredictive of exercise adherence included agreement ongoals and tasks, clear communication, sense of connected-ness, positive feedback, boosted, genuine interest, individ-ualized care, trust in therapist and feeling empowered areimportant for developing exercise adherence behavior.Moderators are “pre-randomized” baseline characteristicsthat interact with treatment to influence the direction ormagnitude of outcomes [57]. Levy et al. [58] showed that

Table 4 Core Themes of Therapeutic alliance

Themes (n = 8) Codes (n = 44) No of studiesN (%)

Congruence Agreement on goals 32 (24.6)

Problem identification 19 (14.6)

Agreement on tasks 27 (20.7)

Connectedness Perceived good relationship 14 (8.7)

Friendliness 21 (20.3)

Empathy 16 (9.7)

Caring 15 (15.5)

Warmth 13 (10)

Genuine interest/concerna 14 (10.7)

Therapist faith/beliefa inpatient

8 (7.7)

Honestya 2 (1.5)

Courtesya 4 (3.0)

Communication Nonverbal 24 (18.4)

Listening skills 39 (30)

Visual aids 7 (5.3)

Clear explanation andinformationa

26 (20)

Positive feedbacka 9 (6.9)

Expectation Therapy 25 (19.2)

Outcomes 22 (16.9)

Individualizedtherapy

Responsiveness 9 (6.9)

Holistic practice 8 (7.7)

Influencing factors

External factors Structures, processes andenvironment

17 (13.1)

Therapist prerequisite Skill and competence andexperience

30 (23.1)

Personal characteristics 13 (10)

Humor 7 (5.3)

Life experiences 7 (5.3)

Emotional intelligencea 3 (2.3)

Patient prerequisite Personal characteristics 6 (4.6)

Existing resources 10 (7.7)

Life experiences 11 (8.4)

Willingness to engage 11 (8.4)

Partnership Trust/dependability 23 (17.6)

Respect 19 (14)

Mutual understanding 24 (18.4)

Knowledge exchange 19 (14.6)

Power balance 6 (4.6)

Active involvement/engagement

28 (21.5)

Roles and responsibilities Activating patient’s resources 17 (13.1)

Motivator/Encouragera 26 (20)

Table 4 Core Themes of Therapeutic alliance (Continued)

Professional manner 13 (10)

Educator/Advisera/Guidea 11 (8.4)

Active follow-upa 5 (3.8)

Autonomy supporta 3 (2.3)aNew component descriptors identified from in this review


Table 5 Measures of Therapeutic Alliance

Articles Outcome Measure Therapeutic Alliance Themes Psychometrics

C Cm E I P Pt Co Rr

Adamson et al., 1994 (1 s) Attitude scale (19-item) X X X X X Yesa

Stenmar and Nordholm, 1994 (101 s)

Baker et al., 2001 (4 s) Participation Method AssessmentInstrument (21-item)

X X X X Yesb

Beattie et al., 2005 (6 s) MedRisk Instrument for Measuring PatientSatisfaction with Physical Therapy Care(MR-12) (12-item)

X X X X Yesa

Besley et al., 2010 (7 s) Health Alliance Questionnaire (HAQ)(19-item)

X X X X X Yesa

Bliss, 2010 (8 s) Working Alliance Inventory (WAI-12)(12-item)

X X X Yesa

Besley et al., 2010 (7 s)

Burns et al., 1999 (9 s)

Morrison, 2013 (98 s)

Chan and Can, 2010 (10 s) Self-developed questionnaire (5-item) X X No

Cole and McLean, 2003 (14 s) Self-developed questionnaire (10-item) X X X X X No

Eklund et al., 2015 (17 s) Working Relationship Questionnaire(HAqII) (19-item)

X X X X X X X Yesa

Farin et al., 2011 (57 s) KOPRA questionnaire (32-item) X X X X Yesa

Ferreira et al., 2013 (18 s) Working Alliance Theory of ChangeInventory (WATOCI) (16-item)

X X X X X Yesb

Hall et al., 2012 (23 s) Yesa

Cheing et al., 2010 (12 s) Pain Rehabilitation Scale (PRES) (54-item) X X X X X X X X Yesa

Fuentes et al., 2014 (20 s)

Vong et al., 2011 (42 s)

Gorenberg and Taylor, 2013 (109 s) Clinical Assessment of 5 Modes Scale(23-item)

X X X X X Yesa

Taylor et al., 2011 (39 s)

Grannis et al., 1981 (22 s) Q sort questionnaire (28-item) X X X X No

Hills and Kitchen, 2007 (24 s) Physiotherapy Outpatient SatisfactionQuestionnaire (38-item)

X X X X Yesa

Jackson et al., 2012 (25 s) Relationship Assessment Scale (RAS)(16-item)

X X X X X X Yesa

Kersten et al., 2012 (27 s) Consultation and Relational Empathy(CARE) (10-item)

X X X X Yesa

Kerssens et al., 1999 (28 s) Self-developed questionnaire (11-item) X X X X No

Knight et al., 2010 (29 s) Service dimension questionnaire (12-item) X X X X X Yesa

Lysack et al., 2005 (31 s) Self-developed questionnaire (3-item) X X X X No

Medina-Mirapeix et al., 2015 (32 s) Patient Experience in Post-Acute OutpatientPhysical Therapy (PEPAP-Q)

X X X X X X X Yesa

Murray et al., 2015 (33 s) Health Care Climate Questionnaire(HCCQ) (6-items)

X X X X Yesa

Chan et al., 2009 (10 s)

Levy et al., 2008 (30 s)

Roberts and Bucksey, 2007 (36 s) Medical Communication BehaviourSystem (23-item)

X X X Yesa

Roberts et al., 2013

Thomson et al., 1997 (40 s) Barrett-Lennard Relationship Inventory(BLRI) (64-item)

X X X X No

Thomson et al., 1997 (40 s) Truax Accurate Empathy Scale(TAES) (8-item)

X No


age moderated the relationship between TA and clinic-based adherence with younger and more autonomousindividuals being more adherent to treatment. Predictorsare baseline characteristics that predict response in bothtreatment and control groups [59]. Mediators are variablesresponsible for all or parts of the effects of a treatment oroutcomes. They change during treatment, are associatedwith treatment and must influence outcome to be consid-ered a mediator [57]. In this scoping review, prioritizationof goals, autonomy support and motivation mediated therelationship between TA and adherence.

Participant perspectives on therapeutic allianceTo better delineate the phenomenon of TA, we analyzedthe perspectives of TA among patients, therapists orobservers as shown in Fig. 3 in the interventional andnon-interventional studies. Observers were mostlyresearchers or other therapists not directly involved inpatient care. Overall, most of the views shared werefrom patients. Twenty articles (15.3%) represented viewson congruence out of which 9 reflected patient’s per-spectives. Thirty-five articles (26%) represented views oncommunication with patient perspectives alone account-ing for 65% of the articles. Sixteen articles (12%)reported perspectives on expectations with patient viewsrepresenting 75%. Eleven articles (8%) represented viewson individualized therapy out of which 7 studies por-trayed patient perspectives. Thirty-nine articles (30%)represented views on partnership with patients’ per-spective accounting for nearly half of all the articles.Fifty-two articles (40%) represented views on connect-edness of which 28 articles represented patient viewsalone. Thirty-three articles (25%) identified the therap-ist role and responsibilities as key determinants of TAwith patient perspective accounting for more than halfof the data. Fifty-one articles (39%) represented par-ticipant views on influencing factors; patient prerequi-sites (37%), therapist prerequisites (35%) and externalfactors (27%). Among the 8 themes, communication,interpersonal aspects, partnership and roles and re-sponsibilities were regarded as the most importantdeterminants of TA according to patients. A break-down of the code (subcategory) under each theme ishighlighted in (See Additional file 3).

Secondary synthesis of systematic reviewsThere were 3 articles in the PT literature focused onreviewing the evidence on TA in this scoping review.There were 2 systematic reviews with a total of 11 stud-ies. Besley et al. [60] examined a wide range of PT clin-ical practice but included 4 MSK studies and reportedthat there were 8 core components of TA includingpatient expectations, personalized therapy, partnership,therapist roles and responsibilities, congruence, commu-nication, relational aspects, and influencing factors. Theauthors reported that the WAI [39], [40] and HAq [42]measures of alliance did not adequately address all thecomponents of TA. The study by Hall et al. [61]included 6 MSK studies and reported 3 key componentsof TA including agreement in goals, agreement on inter-ventions and affective bond. Three outcome measures ofTA; WAI-12 [39], WAI-36 [40] and MedRisk [47] wereused in the MSK studies. Hall et al. [61] reported posi-tive associations between TA and global perceived effect,change in pain, physical function, patient satisfaction,depression and general health status. In a recent meta-synthesis of qualitative studies, O’Keeffe et al. [62] iden-tified 4 themes of TA from 12 codes across 13 MSKstudies. These included physical therapist interpersonaland communication skills (listening, empathy, friendliness,encouragement, confidence, nonverbal communication),physical therapist practical skills (patient education,physical therapist expertise and training), individualizedpatient-centred care (individualized, taking patient prefer-ences and opinion into consideration) and organizationaland environmental factors (time, flexibility with patientappointment and treatment).

DiscussionThis study represents a mapping of the breadth of theevidence for TA in PT and OT MSK practice and identi-fied eight themes of therapeutic alliance valued bypatients across different MSK settings and populations.Kayes and McPherson [63] identified that TA isincreasingly regarded as an important determinant ofengagement in physical rehabilitation but several gapsexists which hinder understanding of TA. This scop-ing review is an attempt to provide a foundation forfuture research by collating and summarizing thetheoretical and empirical evidence concerning the

Table 5 Measures of Therapeutic Alliance (Continued)

Tousignant, 2011 (41 s) Health Care Satisfaction questionnaire(26-item)

X X Yesa

Sluijs et al., 1991 (37 s), 1993 (38 s) Patient Education checklist (5-item) X Yesa

Wright et al., 2013 (43 s) Medical Interview Satisfaction Scale (26-item) X X X X X Yesa

Key: C-Congruence, Co-connectedness, Cm-Communication, E-Expectation, I-Influencing factors, P-Partnership, Pt-Personalized Therapy, Rr-Roles and ResponsibilitiesaPsychometric property tested in studybPsychometric property reported from another study


Table

6Relatio

nshipbe

tweentherapeutic

allianceandadhe

renceto

treatm

ent

Stud

ies

Aim

Popu

latio

nDesign

Therapeutic

Alliance

Measure

Adh

eren

ceMeasure

Results

Bliss,2010

(8s)

Toexam

inepsycho

social

variables

likeattachmen

tstyle,de

pression

andthe

working

allianceas

pred

ictorsof

treatm

ent

outcom

es

Chron

icknee

pain

(n=59)

Correlatio

nalstudy

Working

Alliance

Inventory

5-item

self-repo

rtmeasure

oftreatm

ent

compliance(α=0.83)

Thetransformed

WAIscores

weresign

ificantlypo

sitively

correlated

topain

interfe

rence

andseverity,patient

compliance

andsatisfaction.Thetransformed

WAIaccou

nted

for2

4%of

the

varianceinpatient

compliance

Cam

pbelletal.,2001

(48s)

Toun

derstand

reason

sforcomplianceand

non-compliancewith

aho

me-basedexercise

regimen

Knee

osteoarthritis

(n=20)

Groun

dedtheo

rywith

them

aticanalysis

Interviews

Interviews

Com

pliancewereapparent

initiallywhe

nattend

ingPT

sessions

andlaterwhe

na

numbe

rof

factorscombine

dto

determ

inecontinuedandlong

term

compliance(orno

n-compliance).C

ontin

ued

compliancede

pend

son

ape

rson

’spe

rcep

tionof

their

symptom

s,theeffectiven

essof

theinterven

tion,theirability

toincorporateitinto

everyday

life

andsupp

ortfro

mph

ysiotherapists.

Amod

elof

continued

compliancewas

develope

d.

ChanandCan

2010

(11s)

Toevaluate

patients’

adhe

renceto

homeexercise

prog

ramsin

clinicalpractice

andun

derstand

factorsthat

affect

patients’adhe

renceto

homeexercises.

Ortho

paed

ic,spo

rts

injury,handtherapy,

rheumatolog

y(n=82)

Cross-sectio

nalsurvey

stud

y25

item

questio

nnaire

5-item

exercise

perfo

rmance

questio

nnaire.

Motivation,roleof

exercise,

patients’un

derstand

ingof

exercises,verbalandvisual

explanationandsatisfaction

with

PTwerefoun

dto

have

astrong

effect

onpatient’s

perfo

rmance

ofho

meexercises.

Chanet

al.,2009

(11s)

Toinvestigatetheim

pact

ofPT’sautono

my-supp

ortive

behaviorson

patients’

motivationandrehabilitation

adhe

rence

Anteriorcruciate

ligam

entinjury

(n=115)

Correlatio

nalstudy

Health

care

Clim

ate

Questionn

aire

15-item

SportInjury

Rehabilitation

Adh

eren

ceScale

(SIRAS)

Auton

omou

streatm

ent

motivationwas

associated

positivelywith

autono

my

supp

ortbu

ttherelatio

nship

betw

eenautono

mysupp

ort

andcontrolledtreatm

ent

motivationwas

notsign

ificant.

Auton

omou

streatm

ent

motivationfully

med

iatedthe

effect

ofph

ysiotherapists’

autono

my-supp

ortive

behaviou

rson

patients’

adhe

rence.

Patient

self-repo

rtho

me-basedexercise

adhe

rence


Table

6Relatio

nshipbe

tweentherapeutic

allianceandadhe

renceto

treatm

ent(Con

tinued)

Crook

etal.,1998

(15s)

Torepo

rttheprob

lem

expe

rienced

with

patient

engage

men

tin

PT-ledgrou

psun

dertakingeither

anaerobicexercise

ora

stretching

andrelaxatio

nprog

ram.

MSK

disorders(n=228)

Mixed

metho

dsstud

y(quasirand

omized

controlledtrial,

interviews,checklist)

Individu

alinterviews

Hom

eexercise

diaryfor

exercise

activity

PTsandpatientsacknow

ledg

ethat

listening

was

anim

portance

partof

the

therapeutic

relatio

nshipthat

improved

adhe

rence.

LBP[52],N

eckpain

[30];

Lower

limbpain

[25],

Shou

lder

pain

[12]

Escolar-Reinaet

al.,2010

(56s)

Toexplorepe

rcep

tions

ofpe

oplepain

abou

tthe

characteristicsof

home

exercise

prog

ramsandcare-

provider

styledu

ringclinical

encoun

tersmay

affect

adhe

renceto

exercises.

Chron

icne

ckor

low

back

pain

(n=34)

Groun

dedtheo

ryapproach

Interviews

NA

Patient

adhe

renceto

home-

basedexercise

ismorelikelyto

happ

enwhe

ncare

providers’

style(clinicalknow

ledg

e,feed

back,g

ivingreminde

rs,

mon

itorin

gadhe

renceand

prom

otingexercise

feed

back

andtheconten

tof

exercise

prog

ramme)

arepo

sitively

expe

rienced

.

Freene

etal.,2014

(96s)

Tocompare

aPT-ledho

me-

basedPA

prog

ram

tousual

practiceof

commun

itygrou

pexercise

prog

ram

tode

term

ineeffectiven

essin

middle-aged

adultsfor

increasing

physicalactivity

levelsover

theshortand

long

term

.

Sede

ntarycommun

itydw

ellingadults(n=37)

Mixed

metho

dsstud

y(quasirand

omized

trial,

focusgrou

ps)

Interviews

Self-repo

rton

Active

AustraliaSurvey

Mostparticipantsagreed

the

physiotherapistwas

anen

abling

factor

fortheho

me-based

interven

tion,althou

ghothe

rsdidno

tthinkthiswas

impo

rtant.

Participantsrepo

rted

ago

odinteractionwith

thePT

andfelt

they

wereexpertand

know

ledg

eable.

Reliableandvalid

natio

nalm

easure.

Adviceandsupp

ortand

individu

allytailoredprog

ram

from

thePT

andago

odrelatio

nshipwith

theinstructor

was

impo

rtantforcontinued

participationin

physicalactivity

atho

me.

Gleeson

etal.,1991

(21s)

Tode

veloppo

liciesand

proced

ures

abou

tmanagem

entof

patient

non-attend

ance

inOT.

Handinjuries,bu

rns,

rheumatolog

y(n=100)

Cross-sectio

nalsurvey

stud

ySurvey

instrumen

tPatient

andtherapist

commen

ton

non-

adhe

rence

28%

ofpatientsbe

lievedthat

poor

commun

icationwith

the

therapistwas

thereason

for

non-adhe

rence.

PTsfeltthat

non-

attend

ance

affected

continuity

ofcare

due

todifficulty

inevaluatin

gthe

overalleffectiven

essof

treatm

ent,un

met

goals,inability

toestablish

ongo

ingplans,and

concernregardingdischarge.

PTssawno

n-complianceas

the

resultof

aneed

todevelop

person

alskills

(empathy,warmth,

concern),dem

onstratinga


Table

6Relatio

nshipbe

tweentherapeutic

allianceandadhe

renceto

treatm

ent(Con

tinued)

feelingof

respon

sibilityfor

non-attend

ance.

Harman

etal.,2012

(63s)

Tode

scrib

etheapproach

used

byaPT

durin

garehab

prog

rammeforinjured

mem

bersof

themilitary

design

edto

enhanceself-

efficacyandself-

managem

entskills.

Chron

iclow

back

pain

(n=12)

Qualitativestud

ywith

interpretiveparadigm

Interviews

NA

Trustin

gtheph

ysiotherapist

helped

patientscontinue

with

theirprog

rammede

spite

itgettingharder,challeng

ingtheir

confidence,and

notshow

ing

immediate

results.

Hinman

etal.,2015

(65s)

Toexploreho

wpatients,PTs

andteleph

onecoache

sexpe

rienced

,and

madesense

ofan

integrated

prog

ram

ofPT-sup

ervisedexercise

and

teleph

onecoaching

.

Knee

osteoarthritis

(n=6)

Groun

dedtheo

rywith

symbo

licinteractionism

Interviews

Interviews

Patientsfeltaccoun

tableand

respon

sibleformeetin

ggo

als

whe

npe

rceivedattentionfro

mPT

was

individu

alized

and

genu

ine.

PTsappreciatedprovidingclear

inform

ationandmon

itorin

gprog

ress,incorpo

ratio

nof

exercise

into

daily

routine.PTs

recogn

ized

thatcollabo

ratio

n,mutualund

erstanding

and

emph

asising

thesametreatment

with

theclient

asthecentral

characterw

ereimpo

rtant.

Hurleyet

al.,2010

(66s)

Toexplorethehe

alth

beliefs,

expe

riences,treatmen

texpe

ctations

ofpe

oplewith

chronicknee

pain,and

investigateif,ho

wandwhy

thesechange

aftertaking

parton

anintegrated

exercise-based

rehabilitation

prog

ramme

Chron

icknee

pain

(n=29

Groun

dedTheo

rywith

them

aticanalysis

Interview

Atten

dance

Thecare,sup

portandgu

idance

participantsreceived

durin

gthe

inform

aldiscussio

nshelped

build

atrustin

g,collabo

rative

partnershipbetweenpatient

and

PT.Thisincreasedparticipant’

confidence

andtrustinthePT

andbeliefintherehabilitation

prog

ramme.Theinterpersonal

qualities

andprofessio

nalskills

ofthesupervising

PTwere

considered

asimpo

rtantto

the

successof

theprog

rammeas

the

contentof

theprog

rammeitself.

Jacksonet

al.,2012

(25s)

To(i).explore

potential

relatio

nshipsbe

tween

clients’“trip

artite”

efficacy

constructs,relationship

quality

with

thetherapist,

anden

gage

men

tin

exercise

and,

(ii)mod

elactorand

partne

reffectsor

clients’and

therapists’efficacy

beliefsin

relatio

nto

relatio

nshipqu

ality

Osteo

arthritis,

osteop

orosis,b

ursitis

(n=68)

Descriptiveand

Correlatio

nalstudy.

5-itemsfro

mthe7-

item

Relatio

n-ship

adhe

rencescale

3-item

Engage

men

tinstrumen

tIncrease

inpe

rcep

tionof

relatio

nshipqu

ality

weredirectly

relatedto

improvem

entsin

engagementscores,accou

nting

for1

8%of

thevariancein

engagementratin

gs.


Table

6Relatio

nshipbe

tweentherapeutic

allianceandadhe

renceto

treatm

ent(Con

tinued)

Jensen

etal.,1994

(26s)

Tointegrateconcep

tsfro

mresearch,the

ory,andpractice

areintegrated

into

aProcess

Mod

elforPatient-Practition

erCollabo

ratio

nforusein

clin

icalpractice

Rheumatoidarthritis.

Correlatio

nalsurvey

stud

yInterview

NA

Pleasing

thetherapistwas

areason

foradhe

renceto

exercisesprescribed

.Osteo

arthritis,low

back

pain

(n=305)

PTs(n=568).

Karnad

andMcLean,2011

(67s)

ToexplorePT’spe

rcep

tionof

exercise

adhe

renceand

interven

tions

used

inclinical

practice.

Chron

icMSK

cond

ition

sInterpretative

Phen

omen

olog

yInterviews

Interviews

MostPTsbe

lieve

that

clear

commun

ication,faith

inthePT,

realistic

treatm

entplans,shared

goalsandpain

educationare

impo

rtantforadhe

ringto

exercise.

PTS(n=5)

King

ston

etal.,2014

(97s)

Tode

term

inewhe

ther

complianceand

unde

rstand

ingof

aho

me

exercise

prog

ram

isim

proved

whe

npatientsareprovided

with

aDVD

.

Traumatichand

injury

(n=53)

Rand

omized

controlled

trial

Follow

upsurvey

Com

pliancemeasures;

diaryrecordingof

exercise,che

cklistfor

correctnessand

unde

rstand

ingof

exercises,weekly

attend

ance

Nosign

ificant

differences

were

foun

din

theoverallm

ean

exercise

compliancescore

betw

eenthegrou

ps.

Allparticipantsrepo

rted

thatthe

instructions

provided

wereeasy

touse(100%).Allrespon

dents

(100%)feltthattheirappo

intm

ent

with

theirh

andtherapist

was

mod

eratelyto

extre

mely

impo

rtant

and90.6%felttheir

appo

intm

entw

asmod

erateto

extremelyimpo

rtant

inmotivating

them

todo

theirexercises.

Levy

etal.,2008

(30s)

Toinvestigatethe

relatio

nshipbe

tween

perceivedautono

mysupp

ort,

age,andrehabilitation

adhe

renceam

ongsports-

relatedinjuries

Tend

onrelatedinjuries

ankle,knee,sho

ulde

r,elbo

w)(n=70)

Prospe

ctivecorrelational

stud

yHealth

care

Clim

ate

Questionn

aire

15-item

SportInjury

Rehabilitation

Adh

eren

ceScale

(SIRAS)

Highautono

mysupp

ort

provided

bytheph

ysical

therapistwas

relatedto

better

clinic-based

adhe

renceandat

tend

ance

butno

tto

home-

basedadhe

rence.Age

was

relatedto

alladh

eren

ceindices

andmod

erated

therelatio

nship

betw

eenpe

rceivedautono

my

supp

ortandclinic-based

rehabilitationadhe

rence.

Clinicattend

ance

Hom

eexercise

adhe

rence

Lidd

leet

al.,2007

(71s)

Toexploretheexpe

riences,

opinions

andtreatm

ent

expe

ctations

ofchroniclow

back

pain

patientsto

iden

tify

whatcompo

nentsof

treatm

entthey

consider

asbe

ingof

mostvalue.

Chron

iclow

back

pain

(n=18)

Narrativestud

yusing

focusgrou

pInterviews

NA

Lack

offaith

inpractitione

rresultedin

participantsigno

ring

advice

andfailing

toadhe

reto

homeexercisesprog

ramsand

continuing

badpo

sturalhabits.

Follow-upsupp

ortandreassur

ance

abou

tcorrectexercise

instructions

andassistance

with

approp

riate

treatm

ent

prog

ressionim

proved

exercise

adhe

rence.


Table

6Relatio

nshipbe

tweentherapeutic

allianceandadhe

renceto

treatm

ent(Con

tinued)

Littlewoo

det

al.,2014

(72s)

Toincrease

know

ledg

eand

unde

rstand

ingof

the

expe

rienceof

exercising

and

determ

inepe

rcep

tionof

facilitatorsandbarriersto

exercise.

Rotatorcuff

tend

inop

athy

(n=6)

Phen

omen

olog

ywith

framew

orkanalysis

Interviews

NA

PTsandpatientsagreed

that

ongo

ingsupp

ortin

theform

ofprovidingfeed

back,p

roactive

follow-upandstim

ulatingfur

ther

engage

men

twith

theself-

managed

exercise

prog

rams

whe

nprog

ress

was

slow

were

influen

tialo

nsuccessful

outcom

es

Lysack

etal.,2005

(31s)

Tocompare

compu

ter-

assisted

vide

oinstructionand

routinerehabilitationpractice

oncomplianceand

satisfactionwith

home

exercise.

Totaljoint

arthroplasty

(n=40)

Rand

omized

controlled

trial

3-item

tool

onen

couragem

ent,

courtesy,and

,active

involvem

ent

Self-repo

rton

exercise

perfo

rmance

accuracy,

difficulty

inremem

berin

gexercises,

exercise

frequ

ency,

levelo

fexercise

whe

nfeelingpo

orly,and

duratio

nof

each

exercise

session

Statisticalanalysisshow

edthere

wereno

significantdifferences

atfollow-upbetweenthevideo

andcontrolgroup

son

anyof

theexercise

complianceitems

oron

anyof

thepatient

satisfactionitems(p>0.05

inall

cases).Resultsof

thisrand

omized

trialsug

gestthatcompu

terized

patient

educationtechno

logy

may

notprovidethebenefits

anticipated.

Hip

[21]

Knee

[19]

Ratin

gof

quality

ofexercise

perfo

rmance

Petursdo

ttiret

al.,2010

(81s)

Toincrease

know

ledg

eand

unde

rstand

ingof

the

expe

rienceof

exercising

amon

gindividu

alswith

osteoarthritisandto

determ

inewhatthey

perceive

asfacilitatorsand

barriersto

exercising

.

Osteo

arthritis(n=12)

Phen

omen

olog

yFacilitator

andbarrier

checklist

NA

Manyparticipantsplaced

emph

asison

thefact

that

the

encouragem

entand

unde

rstand

ingthey

received

from

theirPT

werevery

impo

rtant.

Hip/kne

e(n=10)

Verteb

ralcolum

n(n=9)

Clearcom

mun

icationandasense

ofapo

sitiveconn

ectionwere

equally

asimpo

rtant

asthe

physicalresults

ofthetherapy

andadherenceto

exercise

inph

ysicaltherapy.Supervision

bythePT

facilitated

exercise

maintenance.

Hands

[6]

Other

joints[3]

Sladeet

al.,2009

(86s)

Toun

derstand

thefactors

that

participantsin

exercise

prog

ramspe

rceive

tobe

impo

rtantto

engage

and

participate

Chron

iclow

back

pain

(n=18)

Groun

dedtheo

rywith

focusgrou

psAud

io-taped

interviews

Aud

io-taped

interviews

Helpful

andem

poweringcare-

provider

skillsarethoseof

the

effectiveed

ucator,m

otivator

andcommun

icator.Care-seekers

areem

powered

byrecogn

ition

oftheiro

wnph

ysicalcapability,

motivators,tim

e-managem

ent

skills,andassertivenessto

adhere

toexercise


Table

6Relatio

nshipbe

tweentherapeutic

allianceandadhe

renceto

treatm

ent(Con

tinued)

Sluijset

al.,1993

(38s)

Toinvestigatewhe

ther

patent

compliancewas

relatedto

characteristicsof

thepatient’sillne

ss,attitu

deor

physicaltherapist’s

behaviou

r.

Traumaand

postop

erative

cond

ition

s,Radiating

back

pain,N

on-

radiatingback

pain,

Neckandshou

lder

pain

(n=1837)

Correlatio

nstud

y5-item

questio

nnaire

1-item

questio

nnaire

The5form

sof

PTbe

havior

show

edno

direct,statistically

sign

ificant

relatio

nshipwith

compliance.

Com

pliancewas

sign

ificantly

relatedto

thepo

sitivefeed

back

(the

rapistsatisfactionwith

and

appreciatio

nof

exercise

perfo

rmance).

PT(n=300)

Observers(n=3)

Sten

mar

etal.,1994

(101

s)To

findou

tthekind

sof

attributions

PTsmake

regardingwhy

PTworks

and

theextent

towhich

attributions

arerelatedto

backgrou

ndvariables.

PTs(n=140)

Cross-sectio

nalsurvey

stud

y22

Likert-typeitems

andvario

usde

mog

raph

icvariables.

NA

Majority

oftherespon

dents

believedthat

thepatient’sow

nresourcesandthepatient-PT

relatio

nshiprather

than

the

treatm

enttechniqu

esarethe

mostim

portantfactorsin

explaining

why

PTworks.O

ther

backgrou

ndfactorshadno

relatio

nshipto

thebe

liefsand

attitud

esexpressed.

Veen

hofet

al.,2006

(91s)

Toun

derstand

why

patients

who

have

received

abe

haviou

ralg

rade

dactivity

prog

ram

successfully

integrateactivities

into

their

daily

lives.

Osteo

arthritis(n=12)

Groun

dedtheo

ryapproach

Interview

Self-repo

rton

integratingactivities

into

daily

lifeafter

discharge

Initialmotivation,active

involvem

entin

thewho

leprocessandthat

thePT

coaching

roledu

ring

interven

tionfacilitated

adhe

renceto

exercisesand

activities:

Vong

etal.,2011

(42s)

Toexam

inewhe

ther

the

additio

nof

motivational

enhancem

enttherapy(M

ET)

toconven

tionalP

Tprod

uces

better

outcom

esthan

PTalon

e

Chron

iclow

back

pain

(n=76)

Rand

omized

,con

trolled

trial

Pain

Rehabilitation

Expe

ctationScale

(PRES)

Exercise

log

(freq

uency)

TheMET-plus-PT

grou

ppro

ducedsign

ificantlygreater

improvem

entsthan

thePT

grou

pin

proxyefficacy,working

alliance,andtreatm

ent

expe

ctancy

with

sign

ificantly

better

perfo

rmance

inliftin

gcapacity,g

eneralhe

alth

and

exercise

compliance.

Wrig

htet

al.,2013

(43s)

Toiden

tifywhich

factorsbe

stexplainno

n-adhe

renceto

homerehabilitationfor

patientswith

musculoskeletal

injuries.

Musculoskeletal

injuries(n=87)

Cross-sectio

nalstudy

Med

icalInterview

SatisfactionScale

(MISS)

SportsInjury

RehabilitationScale

(SIRAS)

Patientsaremostlikelyto

adhe

reto

HRE

whe

nthey

perceive

apo

sitiverelatio

nship

with

theirPT.Self-rep

orted

adhe

renceishigh

erwhe

npatient

percep

tionof

behaviou

ral,cogn

itive

and

affectiveelem

entsof

the

relatio

nshiparepo

sitive.


construct “therapeutic alliance”, how it is currentlymeasured and its relationship to adherence in MSKpractice. This cataloguing of the evidence will assistin defining research questions and applying method-ology that enables quality appraisal which is not acomponent of scoping review methodology [33]. Theaccord around characteristics of partnership, personal-ized therapy, roles and responsibilities, congruence,communication, expectations and influencers acrossPT and OT literature for MSK conditions identifiedin this scoping review provides further credence thatthese key themes should be included and evaluated infuture studies or in clinical training. The synthesisfindings mirror those of the systematic reviews byBesley et a [60] exploring TA in PT literature but thiscurrent study further expanded the key qualitieslinked to each theme. For example, our findings re-vealed several new subcategories such as humour andemotional intelligence (therapist prerequisites), appre-ciation, honesty (connectedness), clarity of informa-tion and feedback (communication), support andfollow up (roles and responsibilities).Various models and frameworks with diverse origins

have been introduced to explain TA in PT and OT lit-erature. The productive partnership framework [64] isbased on power balance, the process model for patient-practitioner collaboration is based on shared-decisionmaking [65], effect model of empathic communication[66] is based on connectedness and tripartite efficacyframework [67] is based on self-efficacy. Moreover, mostof this conceptualization are yet to be empirically tested

in the MSK population. The tripartite efficacy frame-work [67] opines that patients and therapists develop a“tripartite” network of efficacy beliefs. Although, theframework explains the motivational and relational pro-cesses for improving TA between patient and therapistduring therapy encounters, it remains untested in MSKPT practice. The models of TA also had diverse originsranging from traditional healthcare quality principlessuch as patient-centred care [68, 69] and importanthealthcare outcomes such as patient satisfaction [70] tomodern models of emotion management such as emo-tional intelligence [71, 72]. This heterogeneity limits theapplication of this conceptualizations to broad MSKsettings and conditions.The construct of TA proposed by Bordin [8] is steeped in

psychotherapy [73, 74] and viewed as a “pan-theoretical”concept of TA due to its applicability to many therapeuticapproaches [75]. The question remains as to whetherBordin’s construct of TA is truly transferable to MSKrehabilitation. Findings from this scoping reviewhighlights the importance of other constructs such asexternal influencing factors in establishing patient-therapist relationship in MSK practice. Praestegaardand Gard [67] reported that patients in private PTpractice were not open to questions about their livedlives and therapists expressed difficulty in gainingimportant knowledge about their meaningful lives dueto the impact of organizational factors such as avail-able treatment time and design of treatment areas.Besley et al. [60] and O’Keefe et al. [61] also identi-fied the environment as a significant influence on TA

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50

Congruence

Communication

Expectation

Personalized therapy

Partnership

Connectedness

Roles & Responsibilities

External factors

Therapist Prerequisite

Patient prerequisite

Number of studies

Th

erap

euti

c A

llian

ce T

hem

es

Patients

Therapists

Observer

Combined

Fig. 3 Perspectives of participants (patients, therapists, observers) on each theme of therapeutic alliance


in the studies on MSK PT practice. Individuals withmore adaptive styles and well developed social skillsmay form better alliances with their therapists andhave better prognoses according to Del Re et al. [76].In such instances, it is unclear whether the alliance-outcome relationship is influenced more by thepatient’s characteristics or something offered by thetherapist. Furthermore, the differences in therapistskills and competencies between psychotherapy andphysical rehabilitation professionals may affect howTA works in practice. For example, the application ofelectrophysical agents, manual therapy, exercise andphysical activity is commonly associated with thera-peutic procedures in PT and OT practice. Fuentes etal. [21] focused on empathetic communication and re-ported that the effect of TA on pain modulation inpatients with chronic low back pain was enhancedwhen applied with active interferential current andtheir interaction may produce clinical benefits.There was also a dearth of information on how the

themes identified could be developed as soft skills thatare practical for therapists to learn and adapt in clinicalpractice. Murray et al. [77] showed that physiotherapisttraining using self-determination theory based commu-nication skills training improved perception of autono-mous support among patients with low back pain.Similarly, the study by Fuentes et al. [21] highlightedhow physiotherapist communication skills training basedon empathy and roles and responsibilities can be used toenhance the patient-therapist relationship. In OT litera-ture, the Intentional Relationship Model [78] was devel-oped to increase occupational therapist’s capacity fordeveloping skills in therapeutic use of self or TA using self-reflection guide on therapeutic modes. Taylor et al. [79]examined occupational therapists use of self according tothe IRM when interacting with anxious or depressedpatients.Several of the TA measures identified are yet to be

validated in patients with MSK conditions and somerequire further development before adaptation to MSKpractice. Due to the complex nature of TA, availableoutcome measures were based on diverse TA themes.Only one measure covered all the themes of TAreported in this scoping review; the PRES [41]. The WAI[39, 40] was the most reported measure of TA anddeveloped using Bordin’s model [8]. However, Hall et al.[80] showed that measures developed from psychother-apy such as the WAI [39, 40] exhibit a ceiling effect andrequire re-contextualization for suitable use in MSKpractice. Several measures identified also had no evi-dence of psychometric evaluation which further limitsapplicability in MSK practice. Furthermore, some of thestudies reviewed used outcome measures based on theconstruct of satisfaction [29, 81–83] to evaluate TA. It is

unclear if these measures were assessing TA or satisfac-tion or both. A combination of measures may provide amore exact assessment of TA.Our synthesis of the evidence on the impact of TA on

adherence in MSK practice also focused on the relation-ship between TA and exercise adherence based on broadfindings showing correlation between TA and adherencein several disciplines including medicine [84], psycho-therapy [85] and physical rehabilitation [61]. However,the findings from the systematic review on adherence byHall et al. [61] only reported a correlation between TAand cardiac and/or neurological rehabilitation. Thisscoping review showed that TA exerts diverse influenceon treatment adherence as its predictor, moderator andmediator mostly in PT studies. Further studies are re-quired to appraise the evidence in OT discipline. It ispertinent to elucidate moderators and mediators ofRCTs because studying experimental intervention effectsis unable to explain the mechanisms of intervention suc-cess or identify participants who benefit most from anintervention [86]. Such studies provide a key step toguiding interpretation of trials and design of future in-terventions. TA was also correlated with improved pain,reduced disability, and higher satisfaction in MSK PTpractice [21]. TA was found to be more strongly associ-ated with disability and function compared with painoutcomes in chronic LBP [87]. In addition, an identifi-able “practitioner effect” was documented in MSK painintervention trials [87]. Clearly, the context in which PTinterventions are offered has the potential to dramatic-ally improve therapeutic effects [21]. Unfortunately,the adherence literature is plagued by lack of robustoutcome measures [88, 89] and calls to question theimpact of TA on adherence in MSK practice.

Study limitationsThis scoping review utilised rigorous and transparentmethods throughout the entire process. To ensure abroad search of the literature, the search strategyincluded nine electronic bibliographic databases, thereference list of thirty five different articles and ten rele-vant organizations. The relevant screening and datacharacterization forms were screened by two reviewersas needed prior to implementation. The greatest chal-lenge in conducting a review in a broad and complexfield like therapeutic alliance is not data collection butsummarizing the data. Current views on scoping meth-odology advocate engaging a large inter-professionalteam at every stage of process to improve the quality ofthe decision making [35]. Unfortunately, due to timeand financial constraints the authors were not able tobuild such a team for this review. Nonetheless, theauthors were careful to use an iterative approach to clar-ify concepts and revising questions and themes with


increased familiarity with the literature. Due to thelanguage limit, we could have excluded studies that havedirect relevance to the purpose of this review.

Research opportunities and recommendationsFuture research needs to focus on a clear conceptualizationof TA in MSK rehabilitation with clear definition of termsin view of the broad complexity of TA. This approach hasbeen proposed for other complex aspects of health such asquality of care [90]. Similarly, TA measures used in MSKPT and OT practice and the construct they assess need tobe well-defined with evidence of psychometric properties.Furthermore, studies are required to increase therapistcapacity at developing soft skills for enhancing TA in clin-ical practice. If these issues remain unaddressed, patientsmay continue to struggle to meet their rehabilitation po-tentials [63].

ConclusionsThis scoping review maps out the available literature onTA conceptualization, measures and insights into profes-sionals’ and patients’ experiences and perceptions of TAin MSK rehabilitation. It appears that enhanced TA hassome beneficial effects on treatment adherence. The lim-itations identified in existing literature provides a road-map for designing future studies aimed at addressingkey gaps identified in the TA literature. We propose fur-ther research focused on developing a physical rehabili-tation themed framework of TA, psychometric testing ofexisting TA measures and designing trials to investigatethe effect of therapist TA training on long term treat-ment outcomes and treatment adherence in MSKpractice.

Additional files

Additional file 1: Characteristics of studies included in the scoping review.Study information from each article included in the review. (DOCX 96.9 kb)

Additional file 2: Therapeutic Alliance Terms. Description of therapeuticalliance terms detailed in included studies. (DOCX 54.2 kb)

Additional file 3: Perspectives on therapeutic alliance from participants.This file highlights the perspective and experiences of participants ontherapeutic alliance. (DOCX 605 kb)

AcknowledgmentsFB was supported by the Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR) JointMotion Program (JuMP) during the completion of this study.

Availability of data and materialsThe dataset supporting the conclusions of this articles are available from theauthors on reasonable request.

Authors’ contributionsThis study was completed as part of the graduate comprehensiveexamination work of FB who was the principal investigator in this study. Allauthors developed the idea for the scoping review and contributed to theconcept and design. FB conducted the searching and drafted the tables andfigures. All authors contributed to the drafting and reviewing of the manuscript

and provided feedback process during the final production of this manuscript.All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Competing interestsThe authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Consent for publicationNot applicable.

Ethics approval and consent to participateNot applicable.

Publisher’s NoteSpringer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims inpublished maps and institutional affiliations.

Author details1School of rehabilitation Science, McMaster University, 1400 Main StreetWest, Hamilton, ON L8S 1C7, Canada. 2Hand and Upper Limb Centre, StJoseph Hospital, London, ON, Canada. 3Department of Physical Therapy,University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada.

Received: 3 May 2016 Accepted: 16 May 2017

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