Disability,depression and somatization in a low back pain population

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of low back pain (LBP) in a primary care setting population and examine its association with the symptoms of depression and somatization. Methods: This is a cross‐sectional study, utilising a survey carried out in primary health care clinics (PHCs) in Al‐Ain, United Arab Emirates (UAE). A multistage stratified sampling design was used and a representative sample of 1304 UAE nationals aged 18–65 years who attended PHC clinics for any reason were included and 1103 (84.5%) subjects agreed to participate and responded to the questionnaire during a period from June 2001 to January 2002. A specially designed questionnaire with three parts was used for the data collection: socio‐demographic information of the studied subjects, modified version of the Roland‐Morris scale for evaluating back‐related functional disability and SCL‐90 R for depression and somatization subscales was used to assess depressive and somatic symptoms. Results: Of the total number of subjects surveyed (1103), 586 (53.1%) were men and 517 (46.9%) women. The mean age was 34.9 ± 13.4 years for men and 33.5 ± 11.8 years for women. The prevalence of LBP in the studied subjects was 64.7% (95% CI, 60.7–68.5] with 46.7% among men and 53.3% among women. There were a significant differences between the subjects with LBP and without LBP with respect to gender (P < 0.001), body mass index (BMI) (P < 0.001), occupational status (P < 0.001) and living environment (P = 0.016). Functional disability was higher in patients with LBP. Young patients in aged 15–34 years, patients with preparatory/secondary educational level and students showed higher depressive symptoms. A similar pattern was found in patients with somatic symptoms. Factor analysis revealed a strong association between depression and somatization in LBP patients. Conclusions: Functional disability was higher in with LBP. Furthermore, symptoms of depression and somatization are prevalent among LBP patients.     

Effectiveness of a back school program in low back pain

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effectiveness of a back school program in pain, functional status, quality of life, and in anxiety and depression in patients with non-specific low back pain. METHODS: Sixty patients with low back pain were randomized to an intervention and control group. The intervention group underwent a five-weekly back school program. The control group was seen in weekly medical visits, without educative approaches. Both groups took acetaminophen as analgesic medication. All subjects were evaluated by a blind physiotherapist after randomization, 30, 60 and 120 days. Rolland-Morris, SF-36, STAI and Beck questionnaires, pain visual analogical scale and Schober's test were applied. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) consumption was considered co-intervention. The statistical analyses were performed using Pearson's Chi-Square analysis and Student's t-test to compare the baseline characteristics of the groups and the analysis of variance (ANOVA) with repeated measures to assess changes inter/intra groups. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in the baseline characteristics between the two groups. Fifty-five patients completed the study. The intervention group showed a significant improvement in the general health domain, assessed by SF-36, and also in the reduction of acetaminophen and NSAID intake. There was no significant difference between the groups in pain, functional status, anxiety or depression. CONCLUSION: The back school program was more effective than any educational intervention in general health status and in decreasing acetaminophen and NSAID intake. It was ineffective in the other quality of life domains, in pain, functional status, anxiety and depression.     

Roentgenograms in primary care patients with acute low back pain: a cost-effectiveness analysis

For patients visiting a primary care office practice for acute low back pain, we compared the benefits, risks, and costs of obtaining a roentgenogram of the lumbar spine routinely at the initial visit with performing a roentgenogram only if the patient's pain does not improve during and eight-week follow-up period. The cost-effectiveness analysis indicated that, to avert one day of physical suffering in a population of patients, the population would have to be subjected to the additional risk of 3,188 mrad of radiation and an additional cost of $2,072. While, in the individual case, circumstances might lead to a different conclusion, in general, the risks and costs of obtaining lumbar roentgenograms at the initial visit in patients with acute low back pain do not seem to justify the relatively small associated benefit.     

Prevalence and clinical features of lumbar zygapophysial joint pain: a study in an Australian population with chronic low back pain.

OBJECTIVES--To determine the prevalence of pain arising from the zygapophysial joint in patients with chronic low back pain and to determine whether any clinical features could distinguish patients with and without such pain. METHODS--Sixty three patients with chronic low back pain were studied prospectively. All patients underwent a detailed history and physical examination as well as a series of intra-articular zygapophysial joint injections of 0.5% bupivacaine starting at the symptomatic level to a maximum of three levels or until the pain was abolished. They also received injections of normal saline into paraspinal muscles to act as controls. RESULTS--All patients proceeded with the injections. Twenty (32%; 95% confidence interval (CI) 20 to 44%) obtained greater than 50% relief of their pain following the administration of saline. Fifty seven patients completed the study; 23 of them (40%; 95% CI 27 to 53%) failed to obtain relief following the injection of saline but obtained relief following one or more intra-articular injections of local anaesthetic. None of the historical features or clinical tests could discriminate those patients with and those without zygapophysial joint pain. CONCLUSION--Pain originating from the zygapophysial joint is not uncommon, but this study failed to find any clinical predictors in patients with such pain.     

Chronic low back pain in a working-age adult

Low back pain is an extremely common patient complaint. Most cases resolve fairly quickly after the acute episode. However, a small but significant number of patients develop chronic low back pain; a persistent disabling condition. Patients suffer from unremitting pain and often become functionally impaired. Multiple patient characteristics have been identified that place patients at risk for developing chronic low back pain. Currently, it is difficult to find clinical guidelines on how best to manage chronic low back pain, and it remains a substantial treatment challenge for both physicians and patients. The causes, risk factors, prognosis and treatment strategies for chronic low back pain will be discussed in this chapter. The evidence regarding different pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatment modalities will be reviewed and a logical, focused treatment strategy will be outlined.     

Optimising management of low back pain through the pain and disability drivers management model: Findings from a pilot cluster nonrandomised controlled trial

Introduction

Low back pain (LBP) remains the leading cause of disability. The Low Back Pain and Disability Drivers Management (PDDM) model aims to identify the domains driving pain and disability to guide clinical decisions. The objectives of this study were to determine the feasibility of conducting a pragmatic controlled trial of the PDDM model and to explore its effectiveness compared to clinical practice guidelines' recommendations for LBP management.

Methods

A pilot cluster nonrandomised controlled trial. Participants included physiotherapists and their patients aged 18 years or older presenting with a primary complaint of LBP. Primary outcomes were the feasibility of the trial design. Secondary exploratory analyses were conducted on LBP-related outcomes such as pain severity and interference at 12-week follow-up.

Results

Feasibility of study procedures were confirmed, recruitment exceeded our target number of participants, and the eligibility criteria were deemed suitable. Lost to follow-up at 12 weeks was higher than expected (43.0%) and physiotherapists' compliance rates to the study protocol was lower than our predefined threshold (75.0% vs. 57.5%). A total of 44 physiotherapists and 91 patients were recruited. Recommendations for a larger scale trial were formulated. The PDDM model group demonstrated slightly better improvements in all clinical outcome measures compared to the control group at 12 weeks.

Conclusion

The findings support the feasibility of conducting such trial contingent upon a few recommendations to foster proper future planning to determine the effectiveness of the PDDM model. Our results provide preliminary evidence of the PDDM model effectiveness to optimise LBP management.

Clinical Trial Registration

Clinicaltrial.gov , NCT04893369.     

Epidemiology of low back pain

Epidemiology of low back pain, that is, the study of the incidence and prevalence of the pain is essential for detecting the degree of time and physical loss in a person or a society, and for making a project to minimize the loss. For carrying out the study, definition of low back pain is important to understand correctly the real state and comparing the variable data resulting from different studies.     

Evaluation of low back pain

Patients with low back pain should be evaluated on their various clinical aspects. The evaluation instruments can be classified into four types: pain measures, function measures, psychosocial measures, and composite measures. The evaluation should be done by patient self-reporting style. Since it is difficult to evaluate patients with a single measure, the evaluation should be done with combination of several instruments.     

Trajectories of low back pain

Low back pain is not a self-limiting problem, but rather a recurrent and sometimes persistent disorder. To understand the course over time, detailed investigation, preferably using repeated measurements over extended periods of time, is needed.New knowledge concerning short-term trajectories indicates that the low back pain ‘episode’ is short lived, at least in the primary care setting, with most patients improving. Nevertheless, in the long term, low back pain often runs a persistent course with around two-thirds of patients estimated to be in pain after 12 months. Some individuals never have low back pain, but most have it on and off or persistently. Thus, the low back pain ‘condition’ is usually a lifelong experience.However, subgroups of patients with different back pain trajectories have been identified and linked to clinical parameters. Further investigation is warranted to understand causality, treatment effect and prognostic factors and to study the possible association of trajectories with pathologies.     

Biomarkers in axial spondyloarthritis and low back pain: a comprehensive review

Clinical Rheumatology - The spectrum of axial spondyloarthritis (AxSpA) (including both non-radiographic and radiographic AxSpA), also known as ankylosing spondylitis AS, has achieved growing...     

Technology Insight: imaging of low back pain

Chronic low back pain is a common condition that has significant economic consequences for affected patients and their communities. Despite the prevailing view that an anatomic diagnosis is often impossible, an origin for the pain can frequently be found if current diagnostic techniques are fully used. Such techniques include a mixture of noninvasive and invasive imaging. Prevalence data suggest that the intervertebral disc is one of the most common sources of back pain, accounting for around 40% of cases. The pathologic basis for discogenic low back pain might be full-thickness radial tears of the annulus fibrosus. Unfortunately, only MRI can image the internal morphology of the disc, and both CT and MRI lack the necessary specificity to validate this hypothesis. Many so-called radiographic abnormalities seen on CT and MRI are commonly encountered in asymptomatic individuals. Invasive techniques such as joint injections, nerve blocks and provocative discography can show the connection between an abnormal image and the source of low back pain, but do have notable related risks. The development of a noninvasive, low-risk technique that can show this connection is desirable.     

Prevalence of low back pain as the primary pain site and factors associated with low health-related quality of life in a large Japanese population: a pain-associated cross-sectional epidemiological survey

Abstract

Objectives. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence, magnitude, and direction of the associations among disability, pain intensity, number of pain sites, and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients reporting low back pain (LBP) as their primary pain.

Methods. In January 2009, an Internet survey was performed for randomly selected adults aged 20–79 years who were registered as Internet research volunteers. Of 20 044 respondents, individuals with LBP as the primary pain were analyzed for associations among disability, number of pain sites, and HRQoL. Factors associated with low HRQoL were examined using multiple logistic regression modeling.

Results. Of the 20 044 respondents, 25.2 % (n = 5060) reported LBP and 13.5 % (n = 2696) reported LBP as their primary pain. Among those with LBP as the primary pain, HRQoL decreased with increase in disability and number of pain sites. In multivariate analyses, disability [adjusted odds ratio (aOR), 2.93–4.58], number of pain sites (aOR, 1.42–6.12), pain intensity ≥7 (aOR, 1.88), and age ≥60 years (aOR, 1.55) were associated with low HRQoL.

Conclusions. Approximately 13.5 % of patients reported LBP as their primary pain. Disability with absence from social activity and ≥7 pain sites were strongly associated with low HRQoL.     

Iliac crest pain syndrome in low back pain: frequency and features.

A specific regional pain syndrome, the iliac crest pain syndrome (ICPS), defined by typical local tenderness over the medial part of the iliac crest, was recently found in hospital referred patients with chronic low back pain (LBP). To validate the prevalence of ICPS in different patient settings and to present quantitative data about associated clinical features, we prospectively studied 204 consecutive patients with LBP from a general practice (n = 40), an occupational health service (n = 124) and a rheumatology clinic (n = 40). ICPS was found in 53, 33 and 58%, respectively (41% of the total group). Associated clinical features were localized pain (in 73% of patients with ICPS) and typical pain reproduction by movements of the lumbar spine (64%) or hips (53%), leg raising (37%) and the heel-fall test (24%), in contrast to 2-12%/sign in patients with LBP without ICPS. These observations demonstrate that ICPS is present in a considerable percentage of all patients with LBP and is easy to differentiate clinically from patients with other forms of LBP.