Proposing six criteria to improve reproducibility of "usual care" interventions in back pain trials: a systematic review.

Objectives: The aim of this study is to determine how usual care is defined in clinical trials for low back pain and the components of care that inform its definition. Six components were proposed and assessed for inclusion: type of practitioner providing care, type of self-management education, addressing physical activity, type of medication, dose of the intervention, and reporting whether care was consistent with current guidelines.

Study Design And Setting: Systematic review of clinical trials published between January 1993 and June 2020.

Prevalence and extent of low back pain and low back-related disability in non-care-seeking working-age adults.

Objective: To explore the prevalence and extent of low back pain (LBP) and low back-related disability in working-age adults not seeking care.

Methods: A convenience sample of 101 working-age adults not seeking care for LBP completed the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) and Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ) as measures of disability and completed questionnaires that collected information on various demographic and health-related variables. Those reporting current LBP also completed a Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS).

Acute Medial Plantar Fascia Tear.

A 32-year-old man who participated in competitive soccer came to physical therapy via direct access for a chief complaint of plantar foot pain. The clinical examination findings and mechanism of injury raised a concern for a plantar fascia tear, so the patient was referred to the physician and magnetic resonance imaging was obtained. The magnetic resonance image confirmed a high-grade, partial-thickness, proximal plantar fascia tear with localized edema at the location of the medial band.

Direct Access to Physical Therapy Services Is Safe in a University Student Health Center Setting.

Objectives: The purpose of this retrospective descriptive study was to determine if direct access to physical therapy (PT) in a university health center placed patients at risk for adverse events.

Background: Direct access to PT is underutilized, even though it has been reported to reduce medical costs; however, there is a paucity of evidence on the clinical risks related to this practice.

Methods: The University of Colorado at Boulder instituted a direct access musculoskeletal injury clinic in 2000.