Articles: low-back-pain.
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We wished to determine whether patient satisfaction was related to physicians' confidence in their abilities to effectively manage low back pain, and to examine their attitudes about patients with back pain. The confidence and attitudes of primary care providers were determined using self-administered questionnaires. Patient satisfaction with care was assessed during telephone interviews conducted 3 weeks after a clinic visit for low back pain. ⋯ However, patients of more confident providers were significantly more satisfied with the information they received than were patients of less confident providers. These differences could not be explained by years in practice, length of visit, patient demographics, or the severity and duration of low back pain. These findings suggest that providers who have more confidence in their abilities to effectively manage low back pain may in fact be more effective patient educators.
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A survey of expert orthopedic physical therapists was conducted to assist in the development of a classification system for patients with low back pain (LBP). The goal of the survey was to measure levels of agreement on labels and accompanying constellations of signs and symptoms for subgroups of patients with LBP. ⋯ The importance of developing homogeneous subgroups of patients with LBP based on constellations of reliable clinical findings is emphasized.
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Clin. Orthop. Relat. Res. · Mar 1993
Use of the pantaloon cast for the selection of fusion candidates in the treatment of chronic low back pain.
Forty-five patients with low back pain (LBP) of longer than six months' duration and for whom all conservative therapies failed were placed in a pantaloon cast for a two- to four-week trial period. Significant pain relief occurred in 31 (69%) of these patients. ⋯ After an average follow-up period of 14 months, 17 (74%) had significant pain relief. The pantaloon cast may be an effective tool for identifying those chronic LBP patients who might benefit from spinal stabilization procedure.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Efficacy of cognitive therapy for chronic low back pain.
The effects of outpatient group cognitive therapy, relaxation training, and cognitive therapy in combination with relaxation training on chronic low back pain and associated physical and psychosocial disability were evaluated and compared. One-hundred and two mildly disabled chronic low back pain patients were assigned randomly to a waiting-list (WL) control condition and the 3 treatments. ⋯ Depressive symptoms and disability improved significantly in all conditions (including the waiting list) from pretreatment to post-treatment, with no statistically significant differences among treatments. At both follow-ups, all 3 treatment groups remained significantly improved from pretreatment, with no statistically significant differences between treatments.