ArticleBJGP open2019
Understanding sciatica: illness and treatment beliefs in a lumbar radicular pain population. A qualitative interview study.
Article in BJGP open, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 21 citations in OpenAlex.
- Patients' experiences with musculoskeletal spinal pain: a qualitative systematic review.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 · 2026Pooled it
- Prevalence, risk factors, and awareness of sciatica symptoms and treatment approaches among adults in the Jazan region.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Article
- Understanding How Patients With Lumbar Radiculopathy Make Sense of and Cope With Their Symptoms.Cureus · 2024Review
- Article
- Article
- Pestle Needle (Medical acupuncture · 2022Article
- Knowledge and Attitude of Sciatica Pain and Treatment Methods among Adults in Saudi Arabia.Advances in orthopedics · 2022Article
- Ultrasonography Findings in the Proximal Sciatic Nerve and Deep Gluteal Muscles in 29 Dogs With Suspected Sciatic Neuritis.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2021Article
- Why managing sciatica is difficult: patients' experiences of an NHS sciatica pathway. A qualitative, interpretative study.BMJ open · 2020Article
- What do people search online about sciatica? What answers do they get from Dr. Google? A mixed analysis of Italian web-based data.Archives of physiotherapyArticle
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 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSeveral pathological processes contribute to lumbar radicular pain (LRP), commonly known as sciatica. It is not known how patients rationalise the experience of sciatica or understand the diagnosis. Providing clinicians with a better understanding of how patients conceptualise sciatica will help them to tailor information for patients on the management and treatment of the condition.
aimTo understand patients' beliefs regarding their illness following a diagnosis of LRP, how these beliefs were developed, and the impact of illness beliefs on treatment beliefs. DESIGN &
settingQualitative interview study from a single NHS musculoskeletal interface service (in Wales, UK).
methodThirteen patients recently diagnosed with LRP were consecutively recruited. Individual semi-structured interviews were recorded and transcribed. Data were analysed using a thematic approach.
resultsFour main themes were generated: (1) the illness experience (2) the concept of sciatica, (3) treatment beliefs, and (4) the desire for credible information.
conclusionThe diagnosis of LRP is often communicated and understood within a compressive conceptual illness identity. Explaining symptoms with a compressive pathological model is easily understood by patients but may not accurately reflect the spectrum of pathological processes known to contribute to radicular pain. This model appears to inform patient beliefs about treatments. Clinicians should take care to fully explain the pathology prior to shared decision-making with patients.
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.