Ten-year survey reveals differences in GP management of neck and back pain.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

Clinical guidelines provide similar recommendations for the management of new neck pain and low back pain (LBP) but it is unclear if general practitioner's (GP) care is similar. While GP's management of LBP is well documented, little is known about GP's management of neck pain. We aimed to describe GP's management of new neck pain and compare this to GP's management of new LBP in Australia between April 2000 and March 2010.

Methods

All GP-patient encounters for a new (i.e. first visit to any medical practitioner) neck pain or LBP problem were compared in terms of treatment delivered, referral patterns and requests for laboratory and imaging investigations.

Results

General practitioners in Australia have managed new neck pain and LBP problems at a rate of 3.1 a

SUBMITTER: Michaleff ZA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3389113 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature