PTJ
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

PHYS THER
Vol. 74, No. 2, February 1994, pp. 116-124
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when Rapid Responses are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Hellsing, A.
Right arrow Articles by Kalvemark, M
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Hellsing, A.
Right arrow Articles by Kalvemark, M

Article

A prospective study of patients with acute back and neck pain in Sweden

AL Hellsing, SJ Linton, and M Kalvemark

Department of Occupational Medicine, Orebro Medical Center Hospital, Sweden.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE. This community-based investigation studied patients with acute back/neck pain and prospectively examined risk factors for chronic pain. SUBJECTS. One hundred twenty residents (64 men, 56 women) of a rural community in Sweden who were off work or had been examined by a physician rural community in Sweden who were off work or had been examined by a physician because of acute low back/neck pain during a 1-year period were randomly selected to participate in the study. METHODS. All subjects were examined by a physical therapist and completed questionnaires relating to their functional ability during activities of daily living. The subjects were then prospectively followed to examine treatment content and possible factors for predicting the development of chronic pain. RESULTS. The most common symptom was a dull ache (44%), mostly in the low back (56%). In spite of early care, 16 patients who were randomly selected for further study developed chronic pain during the follow-up year. The patients with chronic pain did not differ from those without chronic pain in age, amount of pain, or handicaps. The risk of developing chronic pain, however, was nearly five times higher for those patients whose pain was provoked by trunk movements in several directions at the first clinical examination. When signs of possible nerve root affection were present, the risk for chronic pain development was nearly eight times higher. CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION. These results suggest that more attention may need to be paid to patients with these risk factors, so that effective preventive measures may be developed.


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Rheumatology (Oxford)Home page
E. F. Harkness, G. J. Macfarlane, E. S. Nahit, A. J. Silman, and J. McBeth
Risk factors for new-onset low back pain amongst cohorts of newly employed workers
Rheumatology, August 1, 2003; 42(8): 959 - 968.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 1994 by the American Physical Therapy Association.