Alberta Rehabilitation Advice Line SelfBack Study
Trial ID: NCT06484751
Status: TERMINATED
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Phase: NA
Start date: 2024-07-15
Completion date: 2025-06-06
Sponsor: University of Alberta
Conditions: Chronic Low-back Pain
Interventions: SelfBack
Locations: Alberta rehabilitation advice line
Countries: Canada
Enrollment: 26
Age range: 18 Years - None
Sex: ALL

Summary:
Recurrent and persistent low back pain (LBP) is a massive problem in Canada that causes a substantial pain, disability, cost, and even premature death.

The good news is that treatments for recurrent and persistent LBP are available. Many guidelines now recommend education and exercise as the best intervention for chronic LBP. Unfortunately, education and exercise programs are not publicly funded in Canada-only Canadians with extended health benefits can access these programs.

As a result, the 50% of Canadians who do not have extended health benefits often seek care for LBP from their publicly funded physicians. Physicians, in turn, have little choice but to reach for what they have available, including opioids, x-rays and referrals to specialists. Not only are these interventions unhelpful for chronic LBP, they are often harmful, sometimes deadly, and disproportionately affect lower socio-economic status households.

A possible solution to this problem exists in a validated app (SelfBack) that provides tailored self-management plans consisting of advice on physical activity, physical exercises, and educational content. Tailoring of treatment plans to individuals is achieved by using case-based reasoning methodology which is a branch of artificial intelligence.

This study will evaluate the feasibility of distributing the SelfBack app to persons experiencing LBP through the Rehabilitation Advice Line, a telephone service open Monday to Friday and provides rehabilitation advice and general health information for Albertans of any age.

The results of this study will help us understand the barriers and facilitators of distributing and using the app in the general pollution of Alberta. This information will be used to apply for funding for a larger study to understand the effectiveness of the app as an intervention for persistent and recurrent LBP.

Eligibility criteria:
Inclusion Criteria:

Patient Inclusion Criteria: Patients with persistent and/or recurrent LBP. Those who benefit most from Selfback are those who have persistent pain when defined as those currently having LBP that has impacted daily activities for \> 1 month. In addition, eligible patients will...

* be Albertan adults over 18 years of age
* be persons who meet the above definition of LBP, but may also include patients with stable radiculopathy/sciatica
* have a personal smartphone with internet access.
* have a working e-mail address.
* speak, read, and write English or have regular access to persons who can assist in this regard.

Exclusion Criteria:

* be patients who have complex back pain that requires direct clinical oversight.
* have cognitive impairments or learning disabilities limiting participation.
* have a serious mental illness
* have non-LBP illnesses or conditions that are contraindicated to participation in SelfBack (e.g. exercise).
* have a terminal illness
* have an inability to take part in exercise/physical activity.

Outcomes:
The percentage of patients who utilize the SelfBack app