Social prescribing services for patients with musculoskeletal conditions compared with other long-term health conditions in the UK: a cross-sectional study

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Introduction: To examine the profile of social prescribing (SP) services for patients with long-term conditions (LTCs) and the extent to which equality and benefits of SP services are available to patients with musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions and those with other LTCs. Methods: This study used routine data from Access Elemental (2017-2022), the most widely used SP software platform in the UK. Our analytical sample was restricted to 4943 patients with LTCs. We used heat maps to map process information about SP services and conducted logistic regression analyses. Results: The top reason for SP referrals for patients with MSK conditions was pain management, while for other LTCs it was to promote nutrition and diet, support emotional well-being and increase social connectedness and support. However, the top interventions for managing MSK conditions were similar to those prescribed for patients with all other LTCs, targeting activities around promoting diet and nutrition, mental health, physical activity, specific illness support, social connectedness and support. We found that compared with people with no MSK conditions and being referred via non-medical routes, those living with MSK conditions and patients who received referrals from medical centres had lower odds of receiving SP services and having their needs met. Patients living in less deprived areas are more likely to receive SP and have their needs satisfied than those from more deprived neighbourhoods. Conclusions: SP services do appear to be reaching some patients with MSK conditions, but they are less likely than other patients with LTCs to receive referrals or have their needs met. This suggests that specialist guidance around supporting the needs of patients with MSK conditions through SP is warranted. Further research is also needed to identify whether the broad types of interventions being prescribed to patients with MSK conditions actually meet their initial, most common referral need of pain management.

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