A decision support system to improve self-management of non/specific low back pain.

The recent global burden of disease study showed that low back pain is the most significant contributor to disability in Europe. Moreover, non- specific low back pain is the fourth most common diagnosis seen in primary care. Every year, about 1 of 15 people in the European population will consult their general practitioner with low back pain. Accordingly, low back pain is one of the most common reasons for activity limitation, sick leave, and work disability.

Current evidence-based guidelines suggest that the most well-documented and effective approach to manage non-specific low back pain is to discourage bed rest (acute stage), reassure the patient about the favourable prognosis (acute stage), advise the patient to stay active both on and off work (acute, sub- acute and chronic stage), and advise strength and/or stretching exercise (sub-acute and chronic stage). These guidelines have been adopted and refined by several European countries to offer the best practice and advice to manage low back pain.

Selfback publications:

Backing self-management 

The selfBACK project is a healthcare programme centred round self-management and has the potential to save both time and monetary resources in the field of low back pain. The overall aim of the project is to improve the self-management of non-specific low back pain in order to prevent chronicity, recurrence and pain-related disability. To achieve this we are currently developing a decision support system – selfBACK – that will be used by the patients in the self-management of low back pain. The patient receives this information through a smartphone app, providing advice to reinforce their personalised self-management plan.​ Read more....

Selfback introduction video (1:42 min)