[The management of back problems among the population. I. Contact patterns and therapeutic routines]

The aim of the study was to describe the professional meeting between back patients and health care providers seen from two points of view-the back patient and the health care provider. A questionnaire was presented to health care providers (general practitioners, physiotherapists, chiropractors, and specialists in rheumatology), in total 1018 health providers. A sample of the general population, 3204 individuals, were interviewed concerning their use of health care providers. Thirty-seven percent of the patients suffering from back trouble during the last 12 months consult a health care provider. The chiropractor sees eighteen times as many back patients as the general practitioner and nine times as many as the physiotherapist. General practitioners, physiotherapists, and chiropractors have different routines of practice, and the patients who consult the three provider groups have different sociodemographic and illness profiles.