• Scand J Work Environ Health · Mar 2014

    Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study

    Face-to-face information combined with a booklet versus a booklet alone for treatment of mild low-back pain: a randomized controlled trial.

    • Jarmo Rantonen, Aki Vehtari, Jaro Karppinen, Satu Luoto, Eira Viikari-Juntura, Markku Hupli, Antti Malmivaara, and Simo Taimela.
    • Finnish Institute of Occupational Health (FIOH) Lappeenranta, Kasarmikatu 9, 53900 Lappeenranta, Finland. jarmo.rantonen@fimnet.fi.
    • Scand J Work Environ Health. 2014 Mar 1;40(2):156-66.

    ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of face-to-face information for the treatment of mild low-back pain (LBP) in an occupational health (OH) setting.MethodsWe conducted a 48-month randomized controlled trial (RCT) with two 1:1 allocated parallel groups of forestry company employees. Eligibility criteria included permanent employment, age <57 years, and mild LBP [visual analogue scale (VAS) 10-34 mm] in a survey. The intervention group received the Back Book, an information booklet on how to manage LBP, with an additional face-to-face review of the booklet by an OH nurse. The control group received the booklet only. Primary outcomes were physical impairment (Roland-Morris 18-item (RM-18) Disability Questionnaire), LBP (VAS 100 mm), health-related quality of life [15-dimensional quality of life (15-D)] during two years and sickness absence (SA) up to four years. Participants were assigned using block randomization with a computer-generated scheme.ResultsThe RCT comprised 181 participants (72% male, mean age 44 years). There were no differences between the treatment arms in any of the primary outcomes at any time point. At 24 months, the mean group differences (intervention versus control) were: RM-18: 0 [95% confidence interval (95% CI) -1-1], VAS: 3 mm (95% CI -3-8), and 15-D 0.00 (95% CI -0.02-0.02). The difference in cumulative sickness absence days at 48 months were -3 (95% CI -28-21) for total and 1 (95% CI -3-5) for LBP specific sick leaves. Exploratory analysis revealed no differences at subgroup-levels either.ConclusionsFace-to-face patient information by an OH nurse in addition to a booklet was not more effective than the booklet alone in treating employees with mild LBP in an OH setting.

      Pubmed     Full text   Copy Citation     Plaintext  

      Add institutional full text...

    Notes

     
    Knowledge, pearl, summary or comment to share?
    300 characters remaining
    help        
    You can also include formatting, links, images and footnotes in your notes
    • Simple formatting can be added to notes, such as *italics*, _underline_ or **bold**.
    • Superscript can be denoted by <sup>text</sup> and subscript <sub>text</sub>.
    • Numbered or bulleted lists can be created using either numbered lines 1. 2. 3., hyphens - or asterisks *.
    • Links can be included with: [my link to pubmed](http://pubmed.com)
    • Images can be included with: ![alt text](https://bestmedicaljournal.com/study_graph.jpg "Image Title Text")
    • For footnotes use [^1](This is a footnote.) inline.
    • Or use an inline reference [^1] to refer to a longer footnote elseweher in the document [^1]: This is a long footnote..

    hide…