Physiotherapists' use of outcome measures in the assessment of lateral elbow tendinopathy: An international online survey

Luke Heales; Leanne Bisset; Bill Vicenzino; Marcus Bateman; Caitlin Hill; Crystal Kean; Steven Obst

doi:10.1177/17585732261440542

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Physiotherapists' use of outcome measures in the assessment of lateral elbow tendinopathy: An international online survey

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Physiotherapists' use of outcome measures in the assessment of lateral elbow tendinopathy: An international online survey

Luke Heales, Leanne Bisset, Bill Vicenzino, Marcus Bateman, Caitlin Hill, Crystal Kean and Steven Obst

Shoulder & Elbow, Vol.Advanced access

22-Apr-2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/17585732261440542

PMID: 42038428

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Abstract

assessment

tennis elbow

management

outcome measures

Objective To examine the frequency of use and establish routine clinical practice of patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs), performance-based OMs and clinician-reported OMs in the assessment of a suspected case of lateral elbow tendinopathy (LET). Methods Physiotherapists from eight countries completed an anonymous online survey, rating their frequency of use (never, rarely, sometimes, often and always) for unidimensional PROMs, multidimensional PROMs, performance-based OMs and clinician-reported OMs. To establish clinical practices, responses were dichotomised into routine (≥70% often/always) and not-routine (≥70% sometimes/rarely/never); items below both thresholds were classified as neither. Results Two hundred ninety-nine respondents completed the survey. No outcome measure met the criteria for routine practice. Eight of 17 multidimensional PROMs, and six of eight clinician-reported OMs met the criteria for not-routine practice. All unidimensional PROMs and performance-based OMs, and a select number of multidimensional PROMs and clinician-reported OMs did not meet the threshold for routine or not-routine practice. Conclusions Our results suggest no single outcome measure is routinely used by physiotherapists assessing a suspected case of LET. It is plausible that physiotherapists select OMs based on patient presentation, rather than the clinical diagnosis, or that outcome measures are perhaps seen more as a research tool than common place in clinical practice.

Details

Title: Physiotherapists' use of outcome measures in the assessment of lateral elbow tendinopathy: An international online survey
Authors: Luke Heales (Corresponding Author) - Central Queensland University
Leanne Bisset - Griffith University
Bill Vicenzino - The University of Queensland
Marcus Bateman - University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust
Caitlin Hill - University of the Sunshine Coast
Crystal Kean - University of Canberra
Steven Obst - Central Queensland University
Publication details: Shoulder & Elbow, Vol.Advanced access
Publisher: Sage Publications Ltd.
DOI: 10.1177/17585732261440542
ISSN: 1758-5740
PMID: 42038428
Copyright note: © The Author(s) 2026. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).
Organisation Unit: School of Health - Sports & Exercise Science
Language: English
Record Identifier: 991224871002621
Output Type: Journal article

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