A new study on conversion of acute to chronic low back pain identifies clinician behavior as well as patient characteristics that increase that risk.
Acute low back pain (LBP) is one of the most common complaints for which people see their primary care physicians. While the pain will resolve for most patients, for an estimated one-third, the pain lasts ≥ 6 months and is then considered chronic. LBP is a major public health problem and is the leading cause of disability in the US.
A recent study published in JAMA Network Open, sought to identify risk factors that could be associated with the acute-to-chronic conversion and whether an instrument used to identify patients with LBP at risk of persistent functional limitations is useful for determining who is more likely to be develop chronic LBP.
Find the study, findings, and conclusions at-a-glance in these slides.