Clinical pathways and patients' attitudes in acute low back pain

Introduction. In France, acute low back pain is a target of a national secondary prevention campaign. Objectives. To describe patients' attitudes during an acute low back pain episode. To describe the various clinical pathways for patients with acute low back pain. Method. Cross-sectional descriptive observational study. A self-administered survey for patients or their relatives was delivered by general practitioners in Champagne-Ardenne and rheumatologists at the University Hospital of Reims from July to September 2019. The inclusion criteria were: subjects aged 18 to 65 years who had already suffered from at least one episode of common acute low back pain. Results. Two hundred and nineteen people were included. A resting attitude involving stopping activities of daily living (ADL) was adopted by 15.2% of participants and 41.9% reduced their ADL during the whole episode of acute low back pain. Rest was considered " useful for reducing low back pain" by 23.7% of respondents. Those who had seen one of the French National Health Insurance's health promotion materials were more likely to report that keeping active was helpful. Women kept their ADL less than men after 48 hours (45.3% vs. 59.0%; p = 0.04). General practitioners remained the main contact for acute low back pain (57.5%), but clinical pathways were diverse, with 34.4% using complementary therapies. Conclusion. The resting attitude in situation of acute low back pain was low but the reduction of ADL stood important in practice and beliefs. It is necessary to carry on and increase prevention interventions for low back pain.