Conclusions For most clinical tests in LBP there is not consistent evidence for an association with outcome .
Central ization and non-organic signs are exceptions from that .
Background There is a strong tradition of performing a clinical examination of low back pain ( LBP ) patients and this is generally recommended in guidelines .
However , establishing a pathoanatomic diagnosis does not seem possible in most LBP patients and clinical tests may potentially be more relevant as prognostic factors .
The aim of this review of the literature was to systematic ally assess the association between low-tech clinical tests commonly used in adult patients with acute , recurrent or chronic LBP and short- and long-term outcome .
Long-term prognosis of acute low back pain in patients seen in general practice: a 1-year prospective follow-up study.
OBJECTIVES We aim ed to examine the prognosis of acute low back pain ( LBP ) in patients in general practice and to identify prognostic factors associated with the long-term prognosis based on information immediately available to the GP . METHOD We conducted a prospect i ve cohort study in general practice in Denmark . The patients were those aged 18 - 60 years consulting their GP due to an episode of LBP lasting less than 2 weeks . The GPs collected data regarding 34 exposure variables , including their global assessment of the likelihood of chronic LBP . Outcome variables were collected from the patients after 1 , 6 and 12 months . The outcome measures were days on sick leave , and functional or complete recovery from LBP . RESULTS In total , 503 ( 96 % ) patients were followed during the whole study period . Fifty per cent of the patients on sick leave returned to work within 8 days ; after 1 year , only 2 % remained on sick leave . At the 1-year follow-up , 45 % of the patients continued to complain of LBP . Logistic regression analyses showed that the factors most significantly associated with poor long-term LBP outcome were ( i ) severity of LBP at inclusion , ( ii ) assessment s by the GP of susceptibility to develop chronic LBP and ( iii ) a history of LBP having caused previous sick leave . CONCLUSIONS LBP in general practice has a good prognosis with regard to sick leave , but a high proportion of patients continue to complain of LBP . We were not able to identify objective measures that strongly predict the prognosis of the individual LBP patient . The overall assessment by the GPs seems to be the most important predictor associated with the long-term outcome
Conclusions For most clinical tests in LBP there is not consistent evidence for an association with outcome .
Central ization and non-organic signs are exceptions from that .
Background There is a strong tradition of performing a clinical examination of low back pain ( LBP ) patients and this is generally recommended in guidelines .
However , establishing a pathoanatomic diagnosis does not seem possible in most LBP patients and clinical tests may potentially be more relevant as prognostic factors .
The aim of this review of the literature was to systematic ally assess the association between low-tech clinical tests commonly used in adult patients with acute , recurrent or chronic LBP and short- and long-term outcome .