Trial reportEuropean journal of pain (London, England)2022
Effect of diagnostic labelling on management intentions for non-specific low back pain: A randomized scenario-based experiment.
Trial report in European journal of pain (London, England), 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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
22 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- [The influence of diagnostic labels on treatment preferences of people with musculoskeletal pain : A systematic literature review].Schmerz (Berlin, Germany) · 2026Pooled it
- Effects of Patient Portal Message Framing on Treatment Preferences and Expectations for Degenerative Meniscus Tears: Randomized Exploratory Cross-Sectional Survey Study.JMIR formative research · 2026Trial
- What are people's perspectives on different labels for neck pain after a motor vehicle crash? A content analysis of randomized study data.Musculoskeletal science & practice · 2025Trial
- Effects of X-ray-based diagnosis and explanation of knee osteoarthritis on patient beliefs about osteoarthritis management: A randomised clinical trial.PLoS medicine · 2025Trial
- The Influence of "Labels" for Neck Pain on Recovery Expectations Following a Motor Vehicle Crash: An Online-Randomized Vignette-Based Experiment.The Journal of orthopaedic and sports physical therapy · 2024Trial
- Trial
- Effect of diagnostic labelling on management intentions for non-specific low back pain: A randomized scenario-based experiment.European journal of pain (London, England) · 2022Trial
- Musculoskeletal clinicians practice behaviour for non-traumatic wrist disorders in the UK: a qualitative study.BMJ open · 2026Article
- Article
- Diagnostic Communication and the Care That Follows: A Critical Narrative Review.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Deduction of Back Pain Patients Using EMG Technology and Inertial Sensors During Functional Tests.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- "It's hard to trust an individual, it's easier to trust an image"-patients with low back pain want imaging as a means of coping with uncertainty.BMC primary care · 2025Article
- Nociplastic pain: an introduction.The Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association · 2025Article
- Evaluating musculoskeletal imaging communication interventions using behavioural science: a scoping review using the COM-B model.BMJ open · 2025Article
- Unhelpful Information About Low Back and Neck Pain on Physiotherapist's Websites.European journal of pain (London, England) · 2025Article
- Managing patients' reports of abdominal pain and irritable bowel syndrome-like symptoms during quiescent inflammatory bowel disease: a role for shared sensemaking.British journal of pain · 2024Article
- Chiropractors' perceptions on the use of spinal radiographs in clinical practice: a qualitative study.Chiropractic & manual therapies · 2024Article
- Acceptability, values, and preferences of older people for chronic low back pain management; a qualitative evidence synthesis.BMC geriatrics · 2024Review
- Article
- 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
11 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundDiagnostic labels may influence treatment intentions. We examined the effect of labelling low back pain (LBP) on beliefs about imaging, surgery, second opinion, seriousness, recovery, work, and physical activities.
methodsSix-arm online randomized experiment with blinded participants with and without LBP. Participants received one of six labels: 'disc bulge', 'degeneration', 'arthritis', 'lumbar sprain', 'non-specific LBP', 'episode of back pain'. The primary outcome was the belief about the need for imaging.
resultsA total of 1375 participants (mean [SD] age, 41.7 years [18.4 years]; 748 women [54.4%]) were included. The need for imaging was rated lower with the labels 'episode of back pain' (4.2 [2.9]), 'lumbar sprain' (4.2 [2.9]) and 'non-specific LBP' (4.4 [3.0]) compared to the labels 'arthritis' (6.0 [2.9]), 'degeneration' (5.7 [3.2]) and 'disc bulge' (5.7 [3.1]). The same labels led to higher recovery expectations and lower ratings of need for a second opinion, surgery and perceived seriousness compared to 'disc bulge', 'degeneration' and 'arthritis'. Differences were larger amongst participants with current LBP who had a history of seeking care. No differences were found in beliefs about physical activity and work between the six labels.
conclusions'Episode of back pain', 'lumbar sprain' and 'non-specific LBP' reduced need for imaging, surgery and second opinion compared to 'arthritis', 'degeneration' and 'disc bulge' amongst public and patients with LBP as well as reducing the perceived seriousness of LBP and enhancing recovery expectations. The impact of labels appears most relevant amongst those at risk of poor outcomes (participants with current LBP who had a history of seeking care).
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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.