Margit Kooijman

Therapist effects | 103 So, the first aim of current study was to investigate whether a therapist effect exists in treatment of patients with shoulder pain. The second aim was to explore if personality traits of the physiotherapist are associated with treatment outcome. Method Design For this study, data were derived from the electronic medical records of physiotherapists who participated in the NIVEL Primary Care Database (NPCD) 7 . Since 2001, NPCD has continuously collected healthcare-related information registered by physiotherapists working in private practices throughout the country. A random sample was drawn from the Human Resources Registers for physiotherapists for this purpose. To be eligible for participation, physiotherapists had to be working in a private practice as a general physiotherapist at least half of their time. Information was obtained through regular patient registration software used to reimburse treatment visits and through an additional module. Data were submitted on a monthly basis and were entered into the database after a standardised quality control check. For participation, physiotherapists received financial compensation, benchmark information and points for accreditation in the quality register. A comparison with national data on physiotherapists showed that there were no differences concerning the therapists’ age, number of working hours and year of graduation. More male therapists register for NPCD and more group practices. Practices were representative with respect to geographical distribution and degree of urbanisation. According to the Dutch Medical Research Involving Human Subject Act this study does not require ethics approval. The NIVEL Primary Care Database extracts data according to strict guidelines for the privacy protection of patients and physiotherapists. In addition, we sought and obtained permission for this work from the board of the NIVEL network. The study did follow the Declaration of Helsinki. Pursuant to the Personal Data Protection Act, data were collected anonymously, patients were informed about NPCD by leaflets and posters in the waiting room and patients could refuse participation. In addition to NPCD data, for the present study, physiotherapists were sent an online questionnaire regarding the personality traits extraversion, neuroticism, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experiences. The Dutch version of the Big Five Inventory which is a 41-item questionnaire using a 5-point-Likert scale, was used for this purpose (BFI) 11 . Extraversion implies an energetic approach toward the social and material world and includes traits such as sociability, activity assertiveness and positive emotionality. Neuroticism contrasts emotional stability and even-temperedness with negative emotionality, such as felling anxious, nervous, sad and tense. Agreeableness contrasts a prosocial and communal orientation toward others with