Background
osteoarthritis, orthopedic disorders, OA
OSTEOARTHRITIS, SECONDARY, ORTHOPEDIC DISORDERS
In Sweden and other European countries, patients with osteoarthritis (OA) are traditionally assessed by a general practitioner (GP), and if needed, referred to an orthopedic surgeon (OS) for a consultation, further management and possible surgical intervention [One way of optimizing these clinical pathways is to implement a physical therapy-led (PT-led) orthopedic triage care model. PT-led orthopedic triage means that patients with orthopedic disorders are assessed for the most suitable care by a physical therapist (PT) [When introducing a new care model, it is important to evaluate the patient’s perception of quality of care [To our knowledge, no previous high-quality study has evaluated PT-led orthopedic triage in patients with hip or knee OA in a secondary care setting. Therefore, the aim of this prospective, randomized, controlled study was to compare perceived quality of care after PT-led triage with standard practice in a secondary care setting, for patients with primary hip or knee OA. The primary outcome was the statement “I 