ArticleBMC musculoskeletal disorders2016
Severity of back pain may influence choice and order of practitioner consultations across conventional, allied and complementary health care: a cross-sectional study of 1851 mid-age Australian women.
Article in BMC musculoskeletal disorders, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.
What it found
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 17 citations in OpenAlex.
- Association between cervical MRI findings and patient-reported severity of headache in patients with persistent neck pain: a cross-sectional study.Chiropractic & manual therapies · 2025Article
- Is complementary medicine and diagnosis associated among spinal patients in the secondary sector: a cross-sectional study.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2024Article
- Identifying latent subgroups in the older population seeking primary health care for a new episode of back pain - findings from the BACE-N cohort.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2024Observational
- Patient Choice After Referral to Physical Therapy for Lower Back Pain and Knee Osteoarthritis.Archives of rehabilitation research and clinical translation · 2023Article
- Influence of Initial Health Care Provider on Subsequent Health Care Utilization for Patients With a New Onset of Low Back Pain: A Scoping Review.Physical therapy · 2022Article
- What is the healthcare utilisation and out-of-pocket expenditure associated with osteoarthritis? A cross-sectional study.BMJ open · 2022Article
- Patients' use of physical therapy for lower back pain: A qualitative study.Musculoskeletal science & practice · 2021Article
- Article
- The utilisation of public and private health care among Australian women with diabetes: Findings from the 45 and Up Study.PloS one · 2021Article
- Musculoskeletal Disorders a Universal Source of Pain and Disability Misunderstood and Mismanaged: A Critical Analysis Based on the U.S. Model of Care.Anesthesiology and pain medicine · 2018Review
- Spine Care as a Framework for the Chiropractic Identity.Journal of chiropractic humanities · 2016Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundBack pain is a common, disabling and costly disorder for which patients often consult with a wide range of health practitioners. Unfortunately, no research to date has directly examined the association between the severity of back pain and back pain sufferers' choice of whom and in what order to consult different health practitioners.
methodsThis is a sub-study of the large nationally representative Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health (ALSWH). The mid-age cohort women (born 1946-51, n = 13,715) of the ALSWH were recruited from the Australian national Medicare database in 1996. These women have been surveyed six time, with survey 6 being conducted in 2010 (n = 10,011). Mid-age women (n = 1851) who in 2010 had sought help from a health care practitioner for their back pain were mailed a self-report questionnaire targeting their previous 12 months of health services utilisation, health status and their levels of back pain intensity.
resultsA total of 1620 women were deemed eligible and 1310 (80.9 %) returned completed questionnaires. Mid-age women with back pain visited various conventional, allied health and CAM practitioners for care: 75.6 % consulted a CAM practitioner; 58.4 % consulted a medical doctor; and 54.2 % consulted an allied health practitioner. Women with the most severe back pain sought conventional care from a general practitioner, and those who consulted a general practitioner first had more severe back pain than those who consulted another practitioner first. Following the general practitioner visit, the women with more severe back pain were more likely to be referred to a conventional specialist, and those with less severe back pain were more likely to be referred to a physiotherapist.
conclusionsOur findings suggest that women with more severe back pain are likely to visit a conventional practitioner first, whereas women with less severe back pain are likely to explore a range of treatment options including CAM practitioners. The improvement of back pain over time following the various possible sequencing of consultations with different types of health practitioners is a topic with implications for ensuring safe and effective back pain care and worthy of further detailed investigation.
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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.