Physiotherapist-Delivered Psychological and Cognitive-Behavioral Interventions for Whiplash-Associated Disorders: A Scoping Review

This scoping review maps the scientific evidence on physiotherapist-delivered psychological and cognitive-behavioral interventions for patients with Whiplash-Associated Disorders (WAD). Since psychological factors like catastrophizing and low self-efficacy are major predictors of chronicity in WAD, this study explores how physiotherapists, acting as primary contact practitioners, can bridge the gap when the access to specialist psychology services is limited. The primary objective is to identify the range of psychological treatments currently employed such as CBT, Cognitive Functional Therapy, Graded Exposure, Mindfulness and all the psychological approaches delivered by physiotherapists, specifically excluding passive education or generic advice. By analyzing data from major databases like PubMed, EMBASE, and PEDro, the research aims to characterize treatment protocols (dosage, frequency) and the specific training received by physiotherapists. Ultimately, the work provides a narrative synthesis of how these integrated approaches influence recovery outcomes such as pain and disability, mapping the current literature landscape to identify gaps for future clinical practice.