SynthesisRheumatology international2019
Health-care utilisation for low back pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis of population-based observational studies.
Synthesis in Rheumatology international, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 49 papers, 5 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
49 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 119 citations in OpenAlex.
- Baseline individual factors associated with clinical outcomes in adults with non-specific low back pain following manual therapy: a systematic review.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2025Pooled it
- Use of General Practitioner Services Among Workers with Work-Related Low Back Pain: A Systematic Review.Journal of occupational rehabilitation · 2025Pooled it
- Core outcome sets for spinal and associated limb, trunk, abdomen or pelvic pain: A systematic review.PloS one · 2025Pooled it
- Health service utilization for low back pain in Germany between 2000 and 2020-a scoping review of claims data.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2025Pooled it
- Exercise therapy for chronic low back pain.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2021Pooled it
- Trial
- Pain neuroscience education improves post-traumatic stress disorder, disability, and pain self-efficacy in veterans and service members with chronic low back pain: Preliminary results from a randomized controlled trial with 12-month follow-up.Military psychology : the official journal of the Division of Military Psychology, American Psychological Association · 2024Trial
- The Effects Of Myofascial Release Technique Combined With Core Stabilization Exercise In Elderly With Non-Specific Low Back Pain: A Randomized Controlled, Single-Blind Study.Clinical interventions in aging · 2019Trial
- Expectations and communication in opioid pain management: a qualitative study of patients' experience.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2026Article
- The Role of Dexketoprofen/Tramadol in Multimodal Therapy to Prevent Acute Postsurgical and Acute Low Back Pain from Developing into Chronic Pain: A Delphi Consensus Study.Pain and therapy · 2026Article
- Influence of medicinal treatment on the course of nonspecific acute low back pain in older adults: generalized estimating equation using data from the BACE Study - Brazil.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 · 2025Observational
- Local variation in musculoskeletal pain consultation rates in primary care: findings from an ecologic study in Staffordshire.Primary health care research & development · 2025Article
- 'Before and After'. The Journey of Patients With Low Back Pain Consulting in Elective Spine Surgery Clinics. A Qualitative Study Protocol.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2025Article
- 'I Have Never Been in That Kind of All-Consuming Pain … I Did Not Know What Else to Do': The Journey to Hospital Admission With Low Back Pain From the Perspectives of Patients.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2025Article
- Relationship between the timing of physical therapy commencement and the duration of work disability: a retrospective cohort analysis of work-related low back pain claims.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Review
- Chronic non-specific low back pain disability and depressive symptoms in working men and women: a cross-sectional study.Rheumatology international · 2024Article
- The association between sleep disorder, sleep duration and chronic back pain: results from National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys, 2009-2010.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Seeing the unseen: The role of bioimaging techniques for the diagnostic interventions in intervertebral disc degeneration.Bone reports · 2024Review
- 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
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 1 institution in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Low back pain (LBP) is a major public health problem globally, resulting in a significant personal and societal burden. However, little is known about health-care utilisation for optimal management of LBP. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to determine the prevalence rate of health-care utilisation for LBP. The electronic databases MEDLINE, EMBASE via Ovid, CINAHL, and Scopus were searched for peer-reviewed articles published in English before March 2018. Meta-analysis was performed using Stata version 14 software. The reported summary statistics including the pooled prevalence rate of health-care utilisation were calculated using a random-effects model. Of 5801 identified records, 20 met the inclusion criteria and were reviewed. The prevalence rate of health-care utilisation for LBP varied regionally, the pooled prevalence rate was 67%, 95% confidence interval (CI) 50-84 in the USA, 47%, 95% CI 39-56 in the UK and 48%, 95% CI 33-63 in Europe. General practitioners, chiropractors and physical therapists were health-care providers commonly engaged in the management of LBP patients, while medication treatment, exercise, massage therapy and spinal manipulation were common prescriptions. A range of factors influencing the decision to seek and use health-care for LBP were also identified. Despite LBP being a common public health problem, a significant proportion of people with the pain fail to use health-care. It is apparent from this review that there is possibly skewed data, as the evidence to date is largely from developed countries. Therefore, it is warranted that future studies investigate the epidemiology of health-care utilisation for LBP in developing countries.
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.