Home Exercise Programs for Self-Rehabilitation of Non-Specific Low Back Pain

Abstract

Background: Low back pain (LBP) is the highest musculoskeletal concern worldwide. Within the United States (U.S.) military health system (MHS), LBP results in 6,268,752 outpatient encounters during five years and $253 billion annual expenditures. Home Exercise Programs (HEPs) are effective in managing LBP. The Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense (VA/DoD) "Management of Low Back Pain" Guideline includes exercise recommendations of Rehab, Refit, and Return to Duty (RX3), an evidence-based HEP management option for LBP. Clinical Question: Can an evidence-based LBP HEP Toolkit (education and resources) offered to primary care providers (PCPs) at Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) clinics impact the number of HEP prescriptions and Physical Therapy (PT) referrals for adult patients with nonspecific LBP? Project Design: LBP Toolkit education and resources were delivered to 19 providers over six weeks across five clinics. Education consisted of a 15-minute RX3 and VA/DoD CPG presentation and at least one check-in. Resources included prescription pads, RX3 handouts, and VA/DoD guideline pamphlets. Pre- and post-intervention assessments included: retrospective medical chart reviews and provider questionnaires to examine HEP prescription use, RX3 and DoD/VA resources familiarity, and PT referrals. Analysis of Results: Pre-intervention chart data (N = 185) revealed 58 HEP prescriptions and 110 PT referrals. Six-week post intervention chart review (N =126) shows a 97% increase in HEP prescription. (n = 78), a 51.85% decrease in PT referrals (n = 36), and an 57.9% / 97.7% PCP self-reported increase in RX3 and VA/DoD guideline utilization, respectively. Organizational Impact: An HEP Toolkit supports PCPs in expanding treatment options for patients with nonspecific LBP. HEP effectively lowers PT referrals, subsequently reducing lost workdays to medical treatment, thereby improving medical readiness.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 01, 2022
Accession Number
AD1186190

Entities

People

  • Christela Turner
  • Mark C. Cenon

Organizations

  • Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Data Analysis
  • Department Of Veterans Affairs
  • Electronic Mail
  • Health Services
  • Hospitals
  • Information Science
  • Institutional Review Board
  • Medical Personnel
  • Military Medicine
  • Military Personnel
  • Pain
  • Patient Care
  • Physical Therapy
  • Rehabilitation
  • Students
  • Therapy

Fields of Study

  • Medicine

Readers

  • Medical or Health Care Field.
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