Review Article

Physiotherapy management of low back pain - a review of surveys

A. Basson
South African Journal of Physiotherapy | Vol 67, No 1 | a246 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/sajp.v67i1.246 | © 2011 A. Basson | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 19 February 2011 | Published: 19 February 2011

About the author(s)

A. Basson,, South Africa

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Abstract

Low back pain (LBP) is an increasingly debilitating and costly
problem. One of the research focuses in LBP is an attempt to improve patient
outcomes. It is believed that the promotion of evidence based practice (EBP)
should improve patient outcomes and also reduce the cost of care. There
seems to be a need to establish how physiotherapists manage LBP and whether
management is in accordance with best practice based on published research
evidence. The aim of this study was to determine what management strategies
physiotherapists employ in the management of LBP by performing a review of
the literature and to compare this with recent guidelines Fourteen studies were included for the review.  The treatments most frequently reported as being used for the management of LBP were education/ advice, exercise, spinal mobilisation and electrotherapy. Over a 14 year period there were no major changes in the way physiotherapists manage LBP. Physiotherapist
use interventions that are evidence based as well as interventions with little evidence in the management of LBP.

Keywords

low back pain; physiotherapy; survey; interventions; evidence based practice

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Crossref Citations

1. Physical therapy for patients with low back pain in Germany: a survey of current practice
Carolin Bahns, Lisa Happe, Christian Thiel, Christian Kopkow
BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders  vol: 22  issue: 1  year: 2021  
doi: 10.1186/s12891-021-04422-2