Interdisciplinary spinal pain clinics in primary care: Outcomes from one service

Management of spinal pain in Australia is a common problem that often requires input from a range of health providers. Interdisciplinary care can be difficult to access, and care can easily become fragmented. A novel approach of setting up an interdisciplinary clinic in a primary care setting was analysed in this study.

Follow-up of patients 2–3 years after attending the clinic was undertaken. Specialist general practitioners (GPs) referring to the clinic were invited to give feedback.

Forty-three patients participated in the study. Approximately half of patients reported clinically significant reductions in their overall pain and disability levels. GPs and participants broadly supported the clinic approach.

Complex spinal pain interdisciplinary assessment in a primary care setting shows reasonable long-term outcomes comparable to more intensive interventions. Further exploration and fine-tuning of this model would seem a sensible option as current models of care are under strain.