ReviewFamily practice2011
The influence of socio-demographic characteristics on consultation for back pain--a review of the literature.
Review in Family practice, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 10 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Effectiveness of Monopolar Dielectric Diathermy by Radiofrequency and Supervised Therapeutic Exercise in Pain, Functionality, Mobility of the Spine and Quality of Life of Patients With Non-specific Chronic Low Back Pain.
Efficacy of Therapy Using Monopolar Dielectric by Radiofrequency on the Symptoms of Myofascial Trigger Points in Patients With Chronic Non-specific Low Back Pain.
Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 29 citations in OpenAlex.
- Use of General Practitioner Services Among Workers with Work-Related Low Back Pain: A Systematic Review.Journal of occupational rehabilitation · 2025Pooled it
- Health-care utilisation for low back pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis of population-based observational studies.Rheumatology international · 2019Pooled it
- Local variation in musculoskeletal pain consultation rates in primary care: findings from an ecologic study in Staffordshire.Primary health care research & development · 2025Article
- The use of healthcare services and disabling chronic pain: results from the cross-sectional population-based Andalusian Health Survey.European journal of public health · 2024Article
- Patient-reported reactogenicity and safety of COVID-19 vaccinations vs. comparator vaccinations: a comparative observational cohort study.BMC medicine · 2023Observational
- Trajectories of Musculoskeletal Healthcare Utilization of People with Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain - A Population-Based Cohort Study.Clinical epidemiology · 2021Article
- Chronic Pain and Chronic Stress: Two Sides of the Same Coin?Chronic stress (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) · 2017Article
- Predictors for chronic pain-related health care utilization: a cross-sectional nationwide study in Iceland.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2015Article
- Chronic low back pain: pharmacological, interventional and surgical strategies.Nature reviews. Neurology · 2013Review
- Internalized stigma mediates the relationship between pelvic pain severity and both depression and anxiety in women with chronic pelvic pain.Women's health (London, England)Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThere are several assumptions within clinical practice about who is more or less likely to consult a health care practitioner for particular symptoms, most commonly these focus around socio-demographic characteristics. We aimed to assess the evidence for the impact of socio-demographic characteristics on consultation for back pain.
methodsWe conducted a review of the literature, using systematic methods, on consultation for back pain. Using systematic searching techniques we identified peer-reviewed publications that focused on health care consultation in response to symptoms of back pain and which included data on both users and non-users of health care.
resultsWe identified 23 studies. Definitions of help-seeking were inconsistent across studies. The majority of the 15 studies which considered the relationship between age and help-seeking for back pain did not find evidence of an association between these two factors. Seventeen studies considered whether socio-economic position was associated with help-seeking. The evidence largely supported the conclusion of no association (13 papers). Fifteen studies included gender as a variable in their analyses, and the majority (10 papers) presented the finding of no association.
conclusionsThe results from this review suggest that there is little evidence to support the common wisdom that socio-demographic characteristics impact on help-seeking in the context of back pain. As these assumptions relating to who is more or less likely to consult will ultimately affect patient care, it is important that they do not go unchallenged.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.