Most patients with low back pain have not recovered after a year

Most patients with low back pain have not recovered after a year

It is widely believed that 90% of episodes of low back pain seen in general practice resolve within four weeks. This was examinedby Croft et al (p 1356) in a large population based study of theoutcome of episodes of low back pain seen in general practicewith respect to both consultation behaviour and self reportedpain and disability. While 90% of patients stopped seeing theirdoctor about the symptoms within three months, only 25% were completelyfree of pain and disability after one year. Longer duration ofsymptoms before the consultation was associated with a pooreroutcome. The authors suggest that low back pain should be viewedas a chronic condition and that effective treatment should bestarted early.

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Outcome of low back pain in general practice: a prospective study: Peter R Croft, Gary J Macfarlane, Ann C Papageorgiou, Elaine Thomas, and Alan J Silman
BMJ 1998 316: 1356-1359. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]