Trial reportBMJ open2024
Cost-effectiveness analysis of app-delivered self-management support (selfBACK) in addition to usual care for people with low back pain in Denmark.
Trial report in BMJ open, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03798288 (A Decision Support System for Self-management of Low Back Pain - a Randomized Controlled Trial for the selfBACK Project), which is not on this map. Cited by 3 papers, 2 of them syntheses 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.
A Decision Support System for Self-management of Low Back Pain - a Randomized Controlled Trial for the selfBACK Project
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Cost-effectiveness of artificial intelligence interventions for musculoskeletal disorders of the spine: a systematic review.Rheumatology international · 2026Pooled it
- Economic evaluation of AI-assisted technologies in healthcare: A systematic review.Journal of food and drug analysis · 2025Pooled it
- The Influence of Mobile Health Interventions on Aftercare and Medication Use for Patients With Chronic Pain: A Systematic Review.Mayo Clinic proceedings. Digital health · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesThis study aims to investigate the cost-effectiveness of individually tailored self-management support, delivered via the artificial intelligence-based selfBACK app, as an add-on to usual care for people with low back pain (LBP).
designSecondary health-economic analysis of the selfBACK randomised controlled trial (RCT) with a 9-month follow-up conducted from a Danish national healthcare perspective (primary scenario) and a societal perspective limited to long-term productivity in the form of long-term absenteeism (secondary scenario).
settingPrimary care and an outpatient spine clinic in Denmark.
participantsA subset of Danish participants in the selfBACK RCT, including 297 adults with LBP randomised to the intervention (n=148) or the control group (n=149).
interventionsApp-delivered evidence-based, individually tailored self-management support as an add-on to usual care compared with usual care alone among people with LBP. OUTCOME MEASURES: Costs of healthcare usage and productivity loss, quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) based on the EuroQol-5L Dimension Questionnaire, meaningful changes in LBP-related disability measured by the Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ) and the Pain Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (PSEQ), costs (healthcare and productivity loss measured in Euro) and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs).
resultsThe incremental costs were higher for the selfBACK intervention (mean difference €230 (95% CI -136 to 595)), where ICERs showed an increase in costs of €7336 per QALY gained in the intervention group, and €1302 and €1634 for an additional person with minimal important change on the PSEQ and RMDQ score, respectively. At a cost-effectiveness threshold value of €23250, the selfBACK intervention has a 98% probability of being cost-effective. Analysis of productivity loss was very sensitive, which creates uncertainty about the results from a societal perspective limited to long-term productivity.
conclusionsFrom a healthcare perspective, the selfBACK intervention is likely to represent a cost-effective treatment for people with LBP. However, including productivity loss introduces uncertainty to the results. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT03798288.
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