SynthesisBMC health services research2020
Cost-effectiveness of pain management services for chronic low back pain: a systematic review of published studies.
Synthesis in BMC health services research, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Pooled it
- The Use of Sensors to Prevent, Predict Transition to Chronic and Personalize Treatment of Low Back Pain: A Systematic Review.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Pooled it
- Cost-effectiveness analysis of a chronic back pain multidisciplinary biopsychosocial rehabilitation (MBR) compared to standard care for privately insured in Germany.BMC health services research · 2021Trial
- Cost savings and quality-of-life gains associated with the use of an AI-powered digital tool for self-management of chronic pain based on a multicenter cohort study.Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.) · 2026Article
- In the Light of Healthcare Professionals: Beliefs About Chronic Low Back Pain.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2026Observational
- Economic burden of recurrent low back pain among working-age adults in Poland: a 3-year retrospective observational analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2026Observational
- Direct cost of ultrasound-guided outpatient medical procedures for patients with pain.Revista brasileira de enfermagem · 2026Article
- Long-term pain and health economic outcomes in adults receiving multidisciplinary CBT for chronic pain: the role of psychological inflexibility.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Dexmedetomidine versus hyaluronidase along with lumbar transforaminal epidural steroid injection in failed back surgery: a randomized double-blind clinical trial.Anesthesia and pain medicine · 2025Article
- Key Factors Driving Physiotherapy Use in Patients with Nonspecific Low Back Pain: Retrospective Clinical Data Analysis.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Article
- Article
- A cross-sectional study to validate an administrative back pain severity classification tool based on the graded chronic pain scale.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Digital Therapeutic Care Apps With Decision-Support Interventions for People With Low Back Pain in Germany: Cost-Effectiveness Analysis.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundChronic low back pain (CLBP) is a highly prevalent condition that has substantial impact on patients, the healthcare system and society. Pain management services (PMS), which aim to address the complex nature of back pain, are recommended in clinical practice guidelines to manage CLBP. Although the effectiveness of such services has been widely investigated in relation to CLBP, the quality of evidence underpinning the use of these services remains moderate. Therefore the aim is to summarize and critically appraise the current evidence for the cost effectiveness of pain management services for managing chronic back pain.
methodsElectronic searches were conducted in MEDLINE, EMBASE and PsycINFO from their inception to February 2019. Full economic evaluations undertaken from any perspective conducted alongside randomized clinical trials (RCTs) or based on decision analysis models were included. Cochrane Back Review Group (CBRG) risk assessment and the Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards (CHEERS) checklist were used to assess the methodological quality of eligible studies.
resultsFive studies fulfilled eligibility criteria. The interventions varied significantly between studies in terms of the number and types of treatment modalities, intensity and the duration of the program. Interventions were compared with either standard care, which varied according to the country and the setting; or to surgical interventions. Three studies showed that pain management services are cost effective, while two studies showed that these services are not cost effective. In this review, three out of five studies had a high risk of bias based on the design of the randomised controlled trials (RCTs). In addition, there were limitations in the statistical and sensitivity analyses in the economic evaluations. Therefore, the results from these studies need to be interpreted with caution.
conclusionPain management services may be cost effective for the management of low back pain. However, this systematic review highlights the variability of evidence supporting pain management services for patients with back pain. This is due to the quality of the published studies and the variability of the setting, interventions, comparators and outcomes.
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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.