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Management of patients’ back pain in relation to work presents difficulties
Study findings have shown health care practitioners have a difficult time managing patients with back pain in relation to their returning to work, being physically able to work and other work-related factors.
Gwenllian Wynne-Jones, MD, and colleagues analyzed 11 general practitioners from an existing general practice survey and six physiotherapists selected randomly using “snowball” sampling techniques. Each participant was given a 30-minute interview, and the researchers identified themes contrasted between and within both groups of respondents.
Several themes were identified from the interviews, including approaches to evaluating patients’ work problems, perceived ability to manage work and pain, and policies and penalties in the workplace.
The researchers noted that whereas physiotherapists were more likely to take a structured approach and ask patients about their job and work difficulties, general practitioners were less likely to ask about their patients’ work situations. Additionally, assessing patients’ ability to return to work appeared to cause tension between general practitioners’ roles as “gatekeeper” and patient advocate.
Wynne-Jones and colleagues concluded these health care professionals need to take patients’ work difficulties and their own perceived ability to offer effective guidance in account when working with them. Additionally, to ensure a smooth return to work, practitioners should take into account their patients’ workplace receptivity to their work problems.
Disclosure: The authors have no relevant financial disclosures.