Effectiveness of a standardized back school program for patients with chronic low back pain after implementation in
Karin Meng1, Stefan Peters1, Hermann Faller1
1Department of Medical Psychology, Medical Sociology, and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
Objective:
To evaluate the effectiveness of a standardized, patient-oriented, biopsychosocial back school after implementation in inpatient orthopedic rehabilitation.
Methods:
A multi-center, quasi-experimental controlled study of patients with low back pain (n=535) was conducted. Patients in the control group received the traditional back school before implementation of the new program (usual care); patients in the intervention group received the new standardized back school after implementation into routine care. Patients' illness knowledge and conduct of back exercises (primary outcomes) and secondary self-management outcomes and treatment satisfaction were obtained at admission, discharge, and 6 and 12 months after rehabilitation.
Results:
We found a significant small between-group intervention effect on patients' illness knowledge in medium- to long term (6 months: η2=0.015; 12 months: η2=0.013). There were trends for effects on conduct of back exercises among men (6 and 12 months: η2=0.008 both). Furthermore, significant small effects were observed for treatment satisfaction at discharge and physical activity after 6 months.
Conclusions:
The standardized back school seems to be more effective in certain outcomes than a usual care program despite heterogeneous program implementation.
Practice Implications:
Further dissemination within orthopedic rehabilitation may be encouraged to foster self-management outcomes.
