Six things you need to know about low back pain
G. David Baxter 1 4 , Cathy Chapple 1 , Richard Ellis 2 , Julia Hill 2 , Lizhou Liu 1 , Ramakrishnan Mani 1 , Duncan Reid 2 , Tim Stokes
3 , Steve Tumilty 1
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
1 Centre for Health, Activity and Rehabilitation Research, School of Physiotherapy, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand
2 School of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand
3 Department of General Practice and Rural Health, Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
4 Corresponding author. Email: david.baxter@otago.ac.nz
Journal of Primary Health Care 12(3) 195-198 https://doi.org/10.1071/HC19117
Published: 10 September 2020
Journal Compilation © Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners 2020 This is an open access article licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Abstract
Low back pain (LBP) is the leading contributor to years lived with disability, and imposes an enormous burden on individuals and on health-care systems. General practitioners and physiotherapists are generally the front-line health professionals dealing with patients with LBP, and have a key role in minimising its effect. Here we review six key issues associated with LBP including its effects, diagnosis and management in primary care, and highlight the importance of the biopsychosocial model and matched care for patients with LBP.
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