• Paul B Bishop and Peter C Wing.
• Combined Neurosurgical and Orthopaedic Spine Program, Heather Pavilion, Vancouver General Hospital, Vancouver, BC, Canada. pbishop@vanhosp.bc.ca
• Spine J. 2003 Nov 1;3(6):442-50.

Background ContextFamily physician compliance with acute lower back pain clinical practice guidelines remains uncertain.PurposeTo determine the degree of guideline compliance of family physicians managing patients with workers' compensation claims and acute mechanical lower back pain.Study DesignObservational study.Patient SampleOne hundred thirty-nine family physicians in British Columbia.Outcome MeasuresCompliance with guideline recommendations for history, examination procedures, diagnostic testing and treatments.MethodsPhysician workers' compensation board patient reports for acute lower back pain without leg symptoms and not greater than 2 to 3 weeks duration were scored for guideline adherence up until 12 weeks after onset.ResultsPhysicians demonstrated a high degree of compliance with the guideline-recommended history, examination procedures and medications, but low compliance with recommended imaging and many treatment recommendations.ConclusionsRecently published clinical practice guidelines regarding the management of patients with acute mechanical lower back pain have not been fully implemented into the patterns of practice of the family physicians.

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