Article

The working alliance, or collaborative bond, between client and
psychotherapist has been found to be related to outcome in psychotherapy.
The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the working
alliance is related to outcome in physical rehabilitation settings.
A sensitive search of 6 databases identified a total of 1,600 titles. Prospective studies of patients undergoing physical rehabilitation
were selected for this systematic review. DATA EXTRACTION:
For each included
study, descriptive data regarding participants, interventions, and measures of
alliance and outcome-as well as correlation data for alliance and outcomes-were
extracted. DATA SYNTHESIS: Thirteen studies including patients with brain injury,
musculoskeletal conditions, cardiac conditions, or multiple pathologies were
retrieved. Various outcomes were measured, including pain, disability, quality of
life, depression, adherence, and satisfaction with treatment. The alliance was
most commonly measured with the Working Alliance Inventory, which was rated by
both patient and therapist during the third or fourth treatment session. The
results indicate that the alliance is positively associated with: (1) treatment
adherence in patients with brain injury and patients with multiple pathologies
seeking physical therapy, (2) depressive symptoms in patients with cardiac
conditions and those with brain injury, (3) treatment satisfaction in patients
with musculoskeletal conditions, and (4) physical function in geriatric patients
and those with chronic low back pain. LIMITATIONS: Among homogenous studies,
there were insufficient reported data to allow pooling of results. CONCLUSIONS:
From this review, the alliance between therapist and patient appears to have a
positive effect on treatment outcome in physical rehabilitation settings;
however, more research is needed to determine the strength of this association.

Langue : ANGLAIS