Articles: low-back-pain.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
The Effect of Foot Reflexology on Stress, Fatigue, and Low Back Pain in Intensive Care Unit Nurses: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
This study, which uses a randomized controlled design, aimed to determine the effect of foot reflexology on stress, fatigue, and low back pain (LBP) in intensive care unit (ICU) nurses. ⋯ Foot reflexology appears to offer promise as an effective method for ICU nurses to reduce lower back pain and fatigue.
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Review Meta Analysis
Efficacy of Laser Acupuncture for Treatment of Chronic Low Back Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
To summarize and systematically analyze the efficacy of laser acupuncture (LA) interventions in reducing pain scores in patients suffering from chronic low back pain (LBP). ⋯ In patients with chronic LBP, LA may help in alleviating pain immediately after the treatment. However, this effect does not appear to be sustained on later follow-up assessments. Consequently, patients should be informed about the potential limitations of the treatment in providing lasting pain relief.
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Multicenter Study
Normality Analysis of Numeric Rating Scale Scores in Patients with Chronic Axial Spine Pain Before and After Medial Branch Blocks: a Multicenter Study.
The statistical analysis typically used to compare pain before and after interventions assumes that scores are normally distributed. The present study evaluates whether numeric rating scale (NRS) scores, specifically NRS-11 scores, are indeed normally distributed in a clinically relevant cohort of adults with chronic axial spine pain before and after analgesic intervention. ⋯ Although the results of parametric analyses of NRS-11 scores are commonly reported in pain research, some properties of the NRS-11 do not satisfy the assumptions required for these analyses. The data demonstrate non-normal distributions in post-intervention NRS-11 scores, thereby violating a key requisite for parametric analysis. We urge pain researchers to consider appropriate statistical analysis and reporting for non-normally distributed NRS-11 scores to ensure accurate interpretation and communication of these data. Practicing pain physicians should similarly recognize that parametric post-intervention pain score statistics might not accurately describe the data and should expect articles to utilize measures of normality to justify the selected statistical methods.
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Workers with low back pain (LBP) frequently seek care from physiotherapists. We sought to identify patterns of physiotherapy attendance and factors associated with these patterns in Australian workers with accepted compensation claims for LBP. We included workers with accepted workers' compensation claims for LBP from 4 Australian states between 2011 and 2015. ⋯ Victorian workers were significantly more likely to be in one of the 2 long-term trajectory groups (OR 8.17, 99% CI 6.86, 9.73; OR 18.68, 99% CI 13.57, 25.70). In conclusion, most compensated Australian workers with LBP attend physiotherapy. Significant interjurisdictional differences between attendance patterns suggests that policy may play an important role in healthcare delivery.
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In this study we aimed to identify whether paraspinal muscle morphology could play a role in surgical decision-making in patients with lumbar spondylolisthesis. ⋯ Each 1-point increment in fatty infiltration in the erector spinae at any lumbar level increased the likelihood of surgery by 8%. Lumbar spondylolisthesis patients with fatty infiltration score for erector spinae at or above 17 were more likely to have surgery. We recommend clinicians to focus on improving erector spinae muscles in patients with lumbar spondylolisthesis.