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Ben Darlow imageProfessor
6th Year Module Co-convenor

Background and interests

Ben has been based in the Department since 2009 and was appointed Professor in 2025. He is currently involved in several research projects as well as undergraduate teaching.

Ben completed his undergraduate physiotherapy degree at the University of Otago in 1998, and his Master of Sports Physiotherapy at Curtin University (Perth) in 2002. He completed his PhD at the University of Otago in 2014. Ben was registered as a Musculoskeletal physiotherapy specialist in 2015.

Teaching activities

Ben co-convenes the Trainee Intern (sixth year) Primary Care and Rural Health Module.

He teaches sessions in the 4th year medicine General Practice and Primary Care undergraduate programme on the following topics:

  • Understanding and managing pain
  • Osteoarthritis management in primary care
  • Physical activity and health

Ben led the redesign of the University of Otago's MBChB pain curriculum.

Ben is also a member of the Wellington Interprofessional Teaching Initiative (WITI) and he teaches interprofessional classes of health students as part of WITI's activities.

Research activities

Ben's key research interests are the assessment and measurement of health beliefs about common musculoskeletal conditions, understanding how these beliefs have been influenced and the impact that these have on well-being, and designing, testing, and implementing interventions to improve knowledge, health care delivery, and outcomes. Ben has also led research exploring interprofessional education.

Anterior cruciate ligament rupture

Ben leads the HRC-funded Enhancing Non-operative Care Of ACL Rupture: Equity and Effectiveness (ENCORE) trial. This trial is comparing two non-operative approaches to recovery from ACL rupture.

Osteoarthritis

Ben has led the Otago Research Collaboration for Knee Arthritis (ORKA) since 2016. This groups work has included:

  • Exploring the knowledge and beliefs of people who have knee osteoarthritis.
  • Developing and testing information resources that provide people with knee OA evidence-based information about the condition, the meaning of their symptoms, ways in which they can improve their joint function and quality of life, and services from which they may receive further support.
  • Testing the feasibility of providing OA care through community pharmacy
  • An HRC-funded clinical trial (KneeCAPS) to test the effect identifying Maori and non-Maori with knee OA through community pharmacy.

Ben also led the development of the Osteoarthritis Knowledge Scale (OAKS) and supervised development of the Performance of Lower Limb Scale (POLLS).

Back pain

Ben has previously explored practitioner and patient attitudes and beliefs related to low back pain and influences upon these. He led a clinical trial and implementation study exploring the feasibility and impact of implementing a new approach (FREE) to explaining and managing back pain in general practice. The website with information about the FREE approach for GPs and people with back pain can be found here. Podcast interviews with Ben discussing his back pain research can be accessed here and here.

Ben has led the development of the Back Pain Attitudes Questionnaire (Back-PAQ) and has been involved in a number of studies that have evaluated the Back-PAQ's measurement properties or produced translations and cross-cultural adaptations. More information about the Back-PAQ can be found here.

Interprofessional education

Ben has been involved in a number of studies evaluating interprofessional education activities. He led the Longitudinal Interprofessional (LIP) Study which investigated changes in interprofessional attitudes and skills over the final year of health professional training and the first three years of professional practice. It explored the influence of undergraduate interprofessional education influences these skills, attitudes, and the career pathways of these graduates. This study involved participants from the disciplines of dentistry, dietetics, medicine, nursing, occupational therapy, oral health, pharmacy, and physiotherapy. Key findings are published here.

Pain

Ben is a member of Steering Group of the University of Otago's Pain research theme and co-ordinates the award of theme prizes.

Professional roles

Ben is a member of the Journal of Physiotherapy Editorial Board, the Journal of Primary Health Care Editorial Advisory Board, the Australia and New Zealand Musculoskeletal Clinical Trials Network (ANZMSUC) Executive Committee, and the Specialist Physiotherapists of New Zealand Executive Committee. Ben has worked as a Specialist Assessor and Competency Assessor for the Physiotherapy Board of New Zealand and has been a member of the Scopes of Practice, Advanced Practice, and Māori Cultural Competence working parties.

Ben works clinically as a Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy Specialist.

Publications

Lu, S., Darlow, B., Xiang, Q., Xie, X., Zhou, Y., Cheng, M., … Li, G. (2026). The Chinese version of the Back Pain Attitudes Questionnaire: Translation, cross-cultural adaptation and validation. Musculoskeletal Science & Practice, 83, 103558. doi: 10.1016/j.msksp.2026.103558 Journal - Research Article

Toomey, D., Lewis, G., Tuck, N., Darlow, B., Rashid, U., & Rice, D. (2026). Can a targeted pre-exercise education intervention enhance the Exercise-Induced Hypoalgesia (EIH) response in individuals with knee osteoarthritis (OA)? International Journal of Rheumatic Diseases, 29(3), e70587. doi: 10.1111/1756-185x.70587 Journal - Research Article

Darlow, B., Brown, M., Vincent, L., Keenan, R., Simmonds, S., Briggs, A. M., Hudson, B., … McKinlay, E., Grainger, R., Stanley, J., & Dean, S. (2026). Participant experiences of the Knee Care for Arthritis through Pharmacy Service (KneeCAPS): A personalised hī. Osteoarthritis & Cartilage Open, 8(2), 100759. doi: 10.1016/j.ocarto.2026.100759 Journal - Research Article

Belton, J., & Darlow, B. (2026). Do we trust patients in pain? What would happen if we did? Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy, 56(1), 1-3. doi: 10.2519/jospt.2025.13725 Journal - Research Other

Nordmo, I., Tveter, A. T., Søhus, S., Zink, S., Bøymo Kaarbø, M., Fjeldheim Bånerud, I., … Darlow, B., & Moseng, T. (2025). HPR-translation, cross-cultural adaptation and assessment of responsiveness of the Norwegian version of the knee/hip osteoarthritis knowledge scale (KOAKS/HOAKS). Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, 84(Suppl. 1), (pp. 1495). doi: 10.1016/j.ard.2025.06.847 Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract

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