Understanding low back pain booklet

Understanding low back pain booklet

The booklet Understanding my low back pain and whether I need imaging was developed as a free resource for health care practitioners treating low back pain to:

Cover of booklet including name and image of a man holding his lower back

  • improve communication between clinicians and patients
  • aid patient education and understanding about low back pain
  • improve low back pain management
  • reduce unnecessary medical imaging.

The booklet was developed as part of an intervention to reduce unnecessary imaging for low back pain by a team of researchers at Macquarie University, Australia and collaborators from Sydney University, Australia and Queens University, Canada. The work was led by Dr Hazel Jenkins.

Reducing unnecessary medical imaging for low back pain

Low back pain is a common disorder. It affects up to 4 out of 5 people at some time during their life (1) and is the leading cause of disability globally (2, 3).

Medical imaging is commonly used to help manage low back pain (4) even though the underlying cause of back pain cannot usually be seen on imaging (5).

The unnecessary use of medical imaging in the management of low back pain has been associated with (5):

  • Poorer patient outcomes
  • Increased surgery and other medical investigations
  • Increased radiation exposure
  • Increased cost.

Approximately 1/3 of all imaging referrals are considered unnecessary (6).

Strategies to try and reduce this unnecessary imaging use are required (7).

The booklet ‘Understanding my low back pain and whether I need imaging’ was developed as a free resource for health care practitioners to help reduce unnecessary imaging use (8).

References:

  1. Walker BF. The prevalence of low back pain: a systematic review of the literature from 1966 to 1998. Clinical Spine Surgery. 2000;13(3):205-17.
  2. Hurwitz EL, Randhawa K, Yu H, Côté P, Haldeman S. The Global Spine Care Initiative: a summary of the global burden of low back and neck pain studies. European Spine Journal. 2018;27(6):796-801.
  3. Hoy D, March L, Brooks P, Blyth F, Woolf A, Bain C, et al. The global burden of low back pain: estimates from the Global Burden of Disease 2010 study. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. 2014;73(6):968-74.
  4. Downie A, Hancock M, Jenkins H, Buchbinder R, Harris I, Underwood M, et al. How common is imaging for low back pain in primary and emergency care? Systematic review and meta-analysis of over 4 million imaging requests across 21 years. British Journal of Sports Medicine. 2019:bjsports-2018-100087.
  5. Chou R, Deyo RA, Jarvik JG. Appropriate use of lumbar imaging for evaluation of low back pain. Radiologic Clinics of North America. 2012;50(4):569-85.
  6. Jenkins HJ, Downie AS, Maher CG, Moloney NA, Magnussen JS, Hancock MJ. Imaging for low back pain: is clinical use consistent with guidelines? A systematic review and meta-analysis. The Spine Journal. 2018; 18(12):2266-77
  7. Jenkins HJ, Hancock MJ, French SD, Maher CG, Engel RM, Magnussen JS. Effectiveness of interventions designed to reduce the use of imaging for low-back pain: a systematic review. Canadian Medical Association Journal. 2015;187(6):401-8.
  8. Jenkins HJ, Moloney NA, French SD, Maher CG, Dear BF, Magnussen JS, et al. Using behaviour change theory and preliminary testing to develop an implementation intervention to reduce imaging for low back pain. BMC Health Services Research. 2018;18(1):734. doi: 10.1186/s12913-018-3526-7.

About the booklet

The booklet was developed as a clinical resource for health care practitioners treating patients with low back pain.

The booklet was designed to be used by the practitioner during a consultation and given to the patient to take home to help provide the patient with:

  • a low back diagnosis and whether they require imaging
  • information on low back pain and why imaging isn’t usually needed
  • advice on how best to manage low back pain
  • a personalised low back pain management plan
  • further resources for more high quality information on low back pain.

The booklet was developed by the research team using previous research and feedback from practitioners and patients. Further information on the development of the booklet can be found at:

Jenkins HJ, Moloney NA, French SD, Maher CG, Dear BF, Magnussen JS, Hancock MJ. Using behaviour change theory and preliminary testing to develop an implementation intervention to reduce imaging for low back pain. BMC Health Services Research. 2018;18(1):734. https://bmchealthservres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12913-018-3526-7

Booklet and practitioner resources (download)

The booklet has been specifically designed to be used with patients with acute, uncomplicated low back pain, with no signs or symptoms of serious pathology (e.g. cancer or infection)

The booklet has been designed to be time-efficient and complement a standard consultation. An information sheet and video are provided below with a description of how the booklet has been designed to be used.

The booklet can either be downloaded in a print-ready format and printed as hardcopies for use in a consultation, or it can be downloaded in a digital format. The digital format can be edited, saved, and then emailed or printed for the patient.

For more information on the booklet, it’s development, or it’s use please contact the research team leader, Dr Hazel Jenkins.

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