BOLINGBROOK, Ill., November 2, 2017 -- ATI Physical Therapy, the nation's largest physical therapy practice under one brand, issued its quarterly patient analysis as part of its ongoing State of Physical Therapy initiative, a National Registry-based data assessment examining ATI patient profiles across the provider’s 700+ nationwide clinic count. Throughout ATI’s dataset of more than 40,000 Illinois patients, findings uncovered some intriguing associations between injuries, age and gender.

ATI queried data was pulled from its Q1 and Q2 2017 Registry housed in their proprietary electronic medical record (EMR) system¹. The data is gathered in real-time and is archived for Registry and scientific use via the EMR and thus allowing clinicians keep focus on their patients. This provides ATI’s Department of Research and Data Analytics the opportunity to analyze outcomes, identify trends and provide key statistics of patients since 2015. ATI’s goal is to help improve healthcare service provision and better understand the components of improving treatment outcomes.

Across ATI’s national footprint that encompasses 25 states, the data uncovered the following:

• Across all age groups, most patients treated do not differ between men and women when it comes to the body part they seek care for. 
• Nationally, 60 percent of all patients are being treated for knee, lumbar, and shoulder injuries.
• ATI’s average physical therapy patient is 51 years old.

Illinois-specific findings are as follows:

Knee, lumbar, and shoulder injuries among top injuries in Illinois
The analysis of the ATI Registry uncovered that more than 50 percent of Illinois physical therapy treatments are related to knee, lumbar, and shoulder injuries.

“It makes sense that the body’s largest muscle groups would account for the most injuries throughout the life cycle,” explains Dr. Chris Stout, Vice President of Research and Data Analytics, ATI Physical Therapy. 

As reported by ATI’s patient registry analysis of Illinois, the following are findings from specific patient age ranges:

• 19 and younger: Suffer the most from knee injuries
• 20-29: Have the lowest number of physical therapy visits among all age groups
• 30-39: Back injuries are predominant– it’s the most treated body part by a 2-1 margin
• 40-49: Back, shoulder and knee are almost indistinguishable in number of visits
• 50-59: The knee is once again, the most-treated body part
• 60-69: Upsurge in knee treatments, accounting for the most treated body part by a 2-1 margin
• 70 and up: Back and knee treatments are equally treated as the most injured body part

Pelvic floor treatment among females on the rise
Findings showed that physical therapy for pelvic floor complications for female patients between the ages of 30-39 were 20 percent higher than those females in the 20-29 age range. 

“More and more women these days are having children at a later age. This could be one of the reasons we are seeing a rise in pelvic issues in this age range. It’s not uncommon to require physical therapy intervention in the pelvic region, specifically the pelvic floor, due to childbirth related injuries,” said Kari Ziemba, MPT, Senior Director of Women’s Health Services at ATI. “In addition, women are becoming more aware and educated on how physical therapy can be a viable alternative to solve many common pelvic issues.”

Male and female patients underwent the same type of treatments
On average, ATI’s male and female patients from all age groups underwent similar treatment for the same body part.

The top five injuries treated for in Illinois were:

• Females: Knee, lumbar, shoulder, foot/ankle, cervical/thoracic
• Males: Knee, lumbar, shoulder, elbow/wrist/hand, cervical/thoracic

From knee and hand injuries to the lumbar, both genders are commonly being treated for the same thing. “In the past, we might have seen more men treated for certain issues since they made up most of the workforce, but as the make-up of the U.S. workforce evens out, these numbers are telling us that women having the same issues as their male counterparts,” continued Stout.  

For additional statistics and breakdown by age, gender and body part, contact Cliff O’Neal at Clifton.ONeal@atipt.com. 

ATI Patient Outcomes Registry is registered in ClinicalTrials.gov and the Agency for Health Care Quality’s Registry of Patient Registries which is designed to promote collaboration, reduce redundancy, and improve transparency among registry holders. ATI is the first and only physical therapy company that has created such a Registry.

For more information on ATI Physical Therapy, and a complete list of ATI’s clinic locations and services, please visit ATIpt.com. You can also follow @ATIPhysicalTherapy on Facebook and @ATIPT on Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest. Or subscribe to the official ATI YouTube Channel for a glimpse into our world!

About ATI Physical Therapy

ATI is a privately held, nationally recognized healthcare company, specializing in outpatient rehabilitation and adjacent healthcare services. With a focus on delivering a remarkable experience to every patient, every day, ATI has more than 700 locations from coast to coast. ATI was named “Best Physical Therapy Practice in the Nation” by ADVANCE magazine, and was one of the first physical therapy companies in the country to achieve URAC Core Accreditation, a mark of distinction that recognizes its commitment to quality healthcare. Based in Bolingbrook, Illinois, ATI gives back to communities across the country through the ATI Foundation, a non-profit established by ATI, which has provided more than $4 million in resources and funding to children with physical impairments.  For more information on ATI Physical Therapy, and a complete list of clinic locations, services and the ATI Foundation, please visit ATIpt.com.

¹ Registries are vetted by the U.S. Government and do not contain any Protected Health Information, but rather aggregate findings to discover trends and presentations.