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 examined by Croft et al (p 1356) in a large population based study of the outcome of episodes of low back pain seen in general practice with
respect to both consultation behaviour and self reported pain and
disability. While 90% of patients stopped seeing their doctor about
the symptoms within three months, only 25% were completely free of
pain and disability after one year. Longer duration of symptoms before
the consultation was associated with a poorer outcome. The authors
suggest that low back pain should be viewed as a chronic condition and
that effective treatment should be started 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]
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