Do people with chronic knee pain want telerehabilitation?

CHE RESEARCH BITES

By Maame Esi Woode, Rana S. Hinman, Anthony Harris, Kim L. Bennell, Belinda J. Lawford

09 July, 2026

People with chronic knee pain often need physiotherapy, but attending in-person appointments can involve travel, waiting time, and costs. This study explored whether people would be willing to use telerehabilitation (physiotherapy delivered by video call) instead of seeing a physiotherapist in person, and which features of care matter most to them.

More than 840 Australian adults with chronic knee pain took part in an online survey. They were asked to choose between in-person and video physiotherapy options that varied in cost, travel and waiting time, time spent talking with the physiotherapist, expected pain improvement, and privacy.

Overall, people preferred in-person physiotherapy and were willing to pay more for it. Participants were willing to pay about AU$39 more for in-person physiotherapy compared to telerehabilitation. However, telerehabilitation was much more attractive when it saved travel and waiting time, offered more opportunity to communicate, and was cheaper than in person care. When these advantages were present, around 40% of participants chose telerehabilitation.

Pain improvement was the most important factor in decision making, regardless of how care was delivered. Younger people, women, those not working, people with less severe pain, and those confident using video technology were more likely to prefer telerehabilitation.

The study shows that while in person care remains important, video based physiotherapy is a valued option for many people when it is convenient, affordable, and effective.

Woode ME, Hinman RS, Harris A, Bennell KL, Lawford BJ. People with chronic knee pain are willing to pay for telerehabilitation physiotherapy consultations if they offer more communication time, greater pain improvement and less travel and waiting time: a discrete choice experiment. Journal of Physiotherapy, 2025 Sep;22

Find out more about the Economic Behaviour, Incentives and Preferences in Health theme.

CHE Research Bites are short, easy-to-understand summaries of our recent academic papers highlighting new evidence and insights on topical issues in the health and healthcare sectors.

Interested in hearing the latest from the Centre for Health Economics? Sign up to our newsletter. Follow us on X and LinkedIn.