• M T Muntión-Alfaro, M Benítez-Camps, J M Bordas-Julve, B de Gispert-Uriach, V Zamora-Sánchez, and C Galindo-Parres.
• EAP Gòtic, ICS, Barcelona, Spain.
• Aten Primaria. 2006 Mar 15; 37 (4): 215-20.

ObjectiveTo describe how patients with back pain are usually handled at a health centre.DesignRetrospective, descriptive study.SettingUrban health centre.ParticipantsAll patients seen for back pain in the centre's general medical consultations during 2003.Main MeasurementsPatients' personal details, clinical characteristics of back pain (alarm signals), semiological data, request for further tests, treatments prescribed, referral to specialists.ResultsFive hundred and thirty eight clinical histories were included. 53.2% of patients were women, and 33.6% were over 55. 35% of patients were not questioned on pain characteristics; and in over half the cases (54.6%), there were no questions on the presence of alarm signals, either. Only in 0.6% of cases was any analogical visual scale used to assess pain. Only 46.8% of the x-rays taken were thought to be well indicated, in terms of pre-established criteria. Total rest was not normally advised (1.9%); the drugs most commonly prescribed were NSAIDs (39.6%).ConclusionsClinical evaluation of patients with back pain is still inadequate in our centre, and x-rays are requested without adherence to formal or explicit criteria. We prescribe more NSAIDs than paracetamol for therapy.

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