Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42354224›Full record

ArticleInternational journal of environmental research and public health2026

Effective Coverage of Rehabilitation for Adults with Chronic Primary Low Back Pain in Uganda.

Wouter De Groote, Yehu Taremwa, Antony Duttine, Dan Kajungu

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in International journal of environmental research and public health, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Wouter De GrooteRehabilitation Programme, Department for Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health, World Health Organization, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0002-0969-1077
Yehu TaremwaMakerere University Centre for Health and Population Research & Iganga Mayuge HDSS, Makerere University, Iganga, Kampala P.O. Box 111, Uganda.ORCID 0009-0006-2086-879X
Antony DuttineRehabilitation Programme, Department for Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health, World Health Organization, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland.
Dan KajunguMakerere University Centre for Health and Population Research & Iganga Mayuge HDSS, Makerere University, Iganga, Kampala P.O. Box 111, Uganda.ORCID 0000-0002-3363-7062

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

In Uganda, in 2019, 6.8 million people experienced health conditions that are amenable to rehabilitation. This is largely due to musculoskeletal disorders such as low back pain (LBP). Measuring effective coverage of rehabilitation means assessing whether a population that needs rehabilitation services receives the interventions with sufficient quality to produce the desired health gain. This study reports on the first measurement of effective coverage of rehabilitation in Uganda and globally using chronic primary LBP as the tracer health condition. A population survey was conducted to administer the WHO global tracer indicator questions. The survey questions were used to identify respondents with chronic primary LBP experiencing limitations in functioning and to determine utilization of rehabilitation services. The WHO Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS) 2.0 12-item was used for the measurement of an improvement in functioning that is meaningful to service users. The questions were nested in the Iganga-Mayuge Health and Demographic Surveillance Site (IMHDSS) update round 22 in seven sub-counties in rural Eastern Uganda between June and September 2023. Data collection followed a training session on survey administration and data capture for enumerators, field supervisors, research managers and lead scientists from the Makerere University Centre for Health and Population Research and a pilot testing of the data collection tool. Survey administration resulted in data collection for 8645 respondents aged 18 years and above. Specifically, 15.2% of the respondents had experienced chronic LBP in the last 12 months, of which 88.5% had experienced pain that was severe enough to affect their usual household, recreational or work activities. A total of 46% of this population in need of rehabilitation had been utilizing rehabilitation services (crude coverage), with no difference between women and men. Only 7.05% of the respondents with chronic primary low back pain experiencing limitations in functioning had been managed with sufficient quality to produce the desired health gain, defined by a minimal but meaningful improvement in functioning (effective coverage).

Indexed as

Low Back PainAdolescentAdultFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedSurveys and QuestionnairesUgandaYoung Adultcoveragehealth serviceslow back painqualityrehabilitationuniversal health coverage

Identifiers

PMID42354224
PMCPMC13299537

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

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.