Acute low back pain: systematic review of its prognosis

Abstract Objectives To describe the course of acute low back pain and sciatica and to identify clinically important prognostic factors for these conditions. Design Systematic review. Data sources Searches of Medline, Embase, Cinahl, and Science Citation Index and iterative searches of bibliographies...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:BMJ 2003-08, Vol.327 (7410), p.323-325
Main Authors: Pengel, Liset H M, Herbert, Robert D, Maher, Chris G, Refshauge, Kathryn M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acute Disease
Back pain
Confidence interval
Disabilities
Disabled Persons - statistics & numerical data
Employment
Humans
Low back pain
Low Back Pain - rehabilitation
Pain
Primary Care
Primary health care
Prognosis
Recurrence
Sciatica
Sciatica - rehabilitation
Citations: Items that cite this one
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Summary:Abstract Objectives To describe the course of acute low back pain and sciatica and to identify clinically important prognostic factors for these conditions. Design Systematic review. Data sources Searches of Medline, Embase, Cinahl, and Science Citation Index and iterative searches of bibliographies. Main outcome measures Pain, disability, and return to work. Results 15 studies of variable methodological quality were included. Rapid improvements in pain (mean reduction 58% of initial scores), disability (58%), and return to work (82% of those initially off work) occurred in one month. Further improvement was apparent until about three months. Thereafter levels for pain, disability, and return to work remained almost constant. 73% of patients had at least one recurrence within 12 months. Conclusions People with acute low back pain and associated disability usually improve rapidly within weeks. None the less, pain and disability are typically ongoing, and recurrences are common.
ISSN:0959-8138
1468-5833
1756-1833
DOI:10.1136/bmj.327.7410.323