Most people living with back pain receive the wrong treatment – Australian-led study
An international study led by Melbourne-based Monash University’s Professor Rachelle Buchbinder has found that most people who live with lower back pain receive inappropriate tests and treatments, including opioids and surgery.
“The majority of cases of lower back pain respond to simple physical and psychological therapies that keep people active and enable them to stay at work,” the study which was published in the medical journal The Lancet said.
“Often, however, it is more aggressive treatments of dubious benefit that are promoted and reimbursed.”
Evidence suggests that low back pain should be managed in primary healthcare, with the first line of treatment being education and advice for patients to keep active and at work, said the journal, which published the researchers’ findings.
However, “a high proportion of patients worldwide are treated in emergency departments, encouraged to rest and stop work, are commonly referred for scans or surgery or prescribed pain killers including opioids, which are discouraged for treating low back pain,” the report said.
Low back pain is a growing global problem that affects all age groups and is generally associated with sedentary occupations, smoking, obesity, and low socioeconomic status. It affects 540 million people worldwide.
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