Patient perspectives on low back pain treatment in primary care: a qualitative study of hopes, expectations, and experiences.

Background: Patients' hopes and expectations for low back pain treatment influence their consultation experiences and treatment outcomes. These hopes and expectations may evolve over time, potentially leading to a shift in what patients consider important before and after a consultation. Understanding the distinction between hopes and expectations, and how they evolve is important for improving patient care.

Cost-effectiveness analysis of app-delivered self-management support (selfBACK) in addition to usual care for people with low back pain in Denmark.

Objectives: This study aims to investigate the cost-effectiveness of individually tailored self-management support, delivered via the artificial intelligence-based selfBACK app, as an add-on to usual care for people with low back pain (LBP).

Design: Secondary health-economic analysis of the selfBACK randomised controlled trial (RCT) with a 9-month follow-up conducted from a Danish national healthcare perspective (primary scenario) and a societal perspective limited to long-term productivity in the form of long-term absenteeism (secondary scenario).

Setting: Primary care and an outpatient spine clinic in Denmark.

Exploring usual care for patients with low back pain in primary care: a cross-sectional study of general practitioners, physiotherapists and chiropractors.

Objectives: To explore the elements and composition of care provided by general practitioners (GPs), physiotherapists (PTs) and chiropractors (DCs) to patients with low back pain (LBP).

Design: Observational study.

Setting: Primary care setting, Denmark.

Patient expectations and levels of satisfaction in chiropractic treatment for lumbar radiculopathy. A mixed methods study.

Background: Chiropractic patients are generally satisfied with the care received. It is unclear if this also applies to Danish patients with lumbar radiculopathy included in a standardised chiropractic care package (SCCP). This study aimed to investigate patient satisfaction and explore perspectives on the SCCP for lumbar radiculopathy.

Demographic and clinical characteristics of patients with low back pain in primary and secondary care settings in Southern Denmark.

Objective: To describe and compare the demographic and clinical characteristics of patients with acute or chronic low back pain across all health care settings treating this condition. Concurrent prospective survey registration of all consecutive consultations regarding low back pain at general practitioners, chiropractors, physiotherapists, and the secondary care spine centre in Southern Denmark.

Subjects: Patients ≥16 years of age with low back pain.

Providing information at the initial consultation to patients with low back pain across general practice, chiropractic and physiotherapy - a cross-sectorial study of Danish primary care.

Objective: Clinical guidelines for managing low back pain (LBP) emphasise patient information, patient education and physical activity as key components. Little is known about who actually receives information. This study investigates to what extent information at the first consultation with general practitioner (GP), chiropractor (DC) and physiotherapist (PT) in Danish primary care is provided to patients with LBP.

One size does not fit all: Participants' experiences of the selfBACK app to support self-management of low back pain-a qualitative interview study.

Background: Low back pain (LBP) is one of the most common reasons for disability globally. Digital interventions are a promising means of supporting people to self-manage LBP, but implementation of digital interventions has been suboptimal. An artificial intelligence-driven app, selfBACK, was developed to support self-management of LBP as an adjunct to usual care.

En route to flourishing - a longitudinal mixed methods study of long-term unemployed citizens in an interdisciplinary rehabilitation program.

Background: Interdisciplinary rehabilitation programmes (IRP) are used in municipality settings to assist unemployed citizens with complex health and/or life issues. Individually tailored IRP activities help people develop their personal working life skills and increase their chances of re-entering the work force. The aims of this paper were to describe citizens' wellbeing in terms of health aspects, explore the impact of stressful life events on wellbeing and obtain understanding of how IRP activities affect the participants' development towards future employment.

Association Between Characteristics of Danish Chiropractors and Number of Referred Patients From General Practitioners: A Cross-sectional Study.

Objective: The purposes of this study were to quantify the number of patients referred weekly from primary health care general practitioners (GPs) to chiropractors and to identify chiropractor characteristics associated with the number of referrals.

Methods: An online, cross-sectional survey was sent to the 600 active members of the Danish Chiropractic Association. Of those, 364 completed the survey and 286 met our inclusion criteria.

PET/CT imaging of spinal inflammation and microcalcification in patients with low back pain: A pilot study on the quantification by artificial intelligence-based segmentation.

Background: Current imaging modalities are often incapable of identifying nociceptive sources of low back pain (LBP). We aimed to characterize these by means of positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) of the lumbar spine region applying tracers F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) and F-sodium fluoride (NaF) targeting inflammation and active microcalcification, respectively.

Methods: Using artificial intelligence (AI)-based quantification, we compared PET findings in two sex- and age-matched groups, a case group of seven males and five females, mean age 45 ± 14 years, with ongoing LBP and a similar control group of 12 pain-free individuals.

Parked on the verge: vocational rehabilitation of long-term unemployed citizens - a mixed methods study.

Background: Vocational rehabilitation programs (VRP) developing and improving work ability are used in Denmark to assist long-term unemployed citizens with complex problems. The aims of this study were to (1) describe VRP-participants in relation to general health, well-being, work ability and self-efficacy at baseline and one-year follow-up, (2) obtain an understanding of VRP-participants' personal development towards improving work ability, and (3) explore VRP-participants' hopes and thoughts about their future.

Methods: In a mixed methods approach, data from a longitudinal survey and semi-structured interviews were collected.

Using Intervention Mapping to Develop a Decision Support System-Based Smartphone App (selfBACK) to Support Self-management of Nonspecific Low Back Pain: Development and Usability Study.

Background: International guidelines consistently endorse the promotion of self-management for people with low back pain (LBP); however, implementation of these guidelines remains a challenge. Digital health interventions, such as those that can be provided by smartphone apps, have been proposed as a promising mode of supporting self-management in people with chronic conditions, including LBP. However, the evidence base for digital health interventions to support self-management of LBP is weak, and detailed descriptions and documentation of the interventions are lacking.

Effectiveness of App-Delivered, Tailored Self-management Support for Adults With Lower Back Pain-Related Disability: A selfBACK Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Lower back pain (LBP) is a prevalent and challenging condition in primary care. The effectiveness of an individually tailored self-management support tool delivered via a smartphone app has not been rigorously tested.

Objective: To investigate the effectiveness of selfBACK, an evidence-based, individually tailored self-management support system delivered through an app as an adjunct to usual care for adults with LBP-related disability.

Barriers and facilitators to patient uptake and utilisation of digital interventions for the self-management of low back pain: a systematic review of qualitative studies.

Objectives: Low back pain (LBP) is a leading contributor to disability globally. Self-management is a core component of LBP management. We aimed to synthesise published qualitative literature concerning digital health interventions (DHIs) to support LBP self-management to: (1) determine engagement strategies, (2) identify barriers and facilitators affecting patient uptake/utilisation and (3) develop a preliminary conceptual model of barriers and facilitators to uptake/utilisation.

App-Delivered Self-Management Intervention Trial selfBACK for People With Low Back Pain: Protocol for Implementation and Process Evaluation.

Background: Implementation and process evaluation is vital for understanding how interventions function in different settings, including if and why interventions have different effects or do not work at all.

Objective: This paper presents the protocol for an implementation and process evaluation embedded in a multicenter randomized controlled trial conducted in Denmark and Norway (the selfBACK project). selfBACK is a data-driven decision support system that provides participants with weekly self-management plans for low back pain.

Inter-Rater Reliability of Ergonomic Work Demands for Childcare Workers Using the Observation Instrument TRACK.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the inter-rater reliability of a newly developed instrument-TRACK (observaTion woRk demAnds Childcare worK) for observations of ergonomic work demands in childcare work. Two trained raters conducted thirty hours of concurrent observation of fifteen childcare workers in three different day nurseries. Inter-rater reliability of ergonomic work demands was evaluated using Gwet's Agreement Coefficient (AC) and interpreted by the Landis and Koch benchmark scale.

An App-Delivered Self-Management Program for People With Low Back Pain: Protocol for the selfBACK Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Low back pain (LBP) is prevalent across all social classes, in all age groups, and across industrialized and developing countries. From a global perspective, LBP is considered the leading cause of disability and negatively impacts everyday life and well-being. Self-management is a recommended first-line treatment, and mobile apps are a promising platform to support self-management of conditions like LBP.

Implementation strategies, and barriers and facilitators for implementation of physical activity at work: a scoping review.

Background: Inactivity and sedentary lifestyle have led experts to recommend an increase in structured, workplace-based physical activity (PA) initiatives. Previous studies on workplace-based PA have only shown moderate and short-term effects. This has been attributed to the lack of clear implementation strategies and understanding of factors that may hinder or enable uptake of PA.

The chiropractic workforce: a global review.

Background: The world is faced with a chronic shortage of health workers, and the World Health Organization (WHO) has estimated a global shortage of 7.2 million health workers resulting in large gaps in service provision for people with disability. The magnitude of the unmet needs, especially within musculoskeletal conditions, is not well established as global data on health work resources are scarce.

Managing sickness absence of patients with musculoskeletal pain - a cross-sectional survey of Scandinavian chiropractors.

Background: Musculoskeletal pain is a major cause of work disability. Many patients with musculoskeletal pain seek care from health care providers other than their general practitioners, including a range of musculoskeletal practitioners. Therefore, these musculoskeletal practitioners may play a key role by engaging in sickness absence management and work disability prevention.

Quantitative evaluation of normal spinal osseous metabolism with 18F-NaF PET/CT.

Objective: The aim of this study was to describe osseous metabolic activity with respect to age and weight in the spine as expressed through fluorine-18-sodium fluoride (F-NaF) uptake in a healthy male population.

Participants And Methods: Whole-body F-NaF PET/CT scans of healthy male participants (22-71 years, 50-145 kg, n=47) were analysed using a global assessment methodology to derive the mean standardized uptake values (SUVmean). Individual regions of the spine (cervical, thoracic and lumbar) along with the aggregate whole spine were assessed and compared as potential functions of age and body weight.

A municipality-based vocational rehabilitation programme for occupationally marginalized citizens: a study protocol for a mixed methods study.

Background: In 2013 vocational rehabilitation programmes (VRP) were given official and legal approval under Danish law to assist occupationally marginalized citizens in gaining general life skills, building their work ability, and increasing their chances of entering the work force. The project's aim is to develop a detailed understanding of the health, psychosocial and work circumstances of participating citizens, and of the important processes and mechanisms underlying the potential effects of participating in the VRP.

Methods: This study uses an exploratory mixed methods approach with sequential use of quantitative and qualitative methods.