Diagnosis, treatment and prevention of low back pain
Summary
Diagnosis, treatment and prevention of low back pain
Supervisor(s)
Professor Kathryn Refshauge, Dr Paulo Ferreira
Research Location
Clinical and Rehabilitation Sciences Research Group
Program Type
Masters/PHD
Synopsis
Despite the enormous expenditure world-wide on understanding and researching low back pain, little is known about the causes of low back pain, the factors that increase the risk of developing an episode of back pain, or about effective treatments. We have shown that it is extremely uncommon for patients to present with low back pain as the first symptom of serious pathology, but that the clinical screening is very useful to identify cases when they do present. We have also shown that, although most cases of back pain are benign, contrary to conventional thinking, recovery is slow and incomplete. When we followed up what recovery means to patients with chronic back pain, our results were quite a revelation, i.e. that patients define themselves as recovered quite differently from their treating clinician and from researchers. Our group is also currently tackling the most vexed issue of all: diagnosis of the pathology underlying low back pain. That is, conducting a series of studies to investigate these issues, particularly the pathology of non-specific low back pain, and psychological factors.
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Keywords
back pain, sciatica, disc problems, Diagnosis, risk factors, prognosis, treatment
Opportunity ID
The opportunity ID for this research opportunity is: 763
Other opportunities with Professor Kathryn Refshauge
- Predicting chronic ankle disability
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- New insights into the low back pain problems: opportunities for doctoral studies
- Investigation of the lifestyle factors associated with low back pain, factors that determine a positive alliance between patients and therapists and motion analysis and muscle recruitment in low back pain.
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