A user-friendly clinical practice guideline summary for managing low back pain in South Africa.
Jessica Stander, Karen Grimmer, Yolandi Brink
PMID 32161826WHAT IT FOUND
Eleven South African physiotherapists rated a two-page low back pain guideline summary as acceptable, appropriate and easy to use.
It did not test whether following the summary improves patient outcomes.
Key findings
01Eleven South African physiotherapy clinicians rated the document acceptable, appropriate and feasible, with average scores of 4.6, 4.6 and 4.8 on a 5-point agreement scale.
02Three current, high-quality low back pain guidelines were used to extract recommendations, and the draft contained 25 summary statements organised under headings such as assessment, red flags, imaging, management, return to work, advice and education, exercise and electrophysical modalities.
03The summary did not include the strength of the evidence for each recommendation and did not synthesise recommendations into composite statements.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The utility was judged by only 11 physiotherapists, most of whom worked in the private sector and lived in a rural town, so the ratings may not apply to other South African physiotherapy settings. The study reports clinician ratings of a document, not patient outcomes or evidence that following the summary improves care. The summary does not include the strength of the evidence for each recommendation and does not synthesise recommendations into composite statements. The parent CPGs did not expand on different approaches to follow with STarT back risk stratification tool findings.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the high ratings as proof that this summary improves low back pain care or patient outcomes. The study only tested how 11 physiotherapists rated the document's acceptability, appropriateness and feasibility.