Effectiveness of an Electronic Decision Support System (DeSSBack) in Improving the Management of Low Back Pain

University of Malaya

Status

Unknown

Conditions

Lower Back Pain

Treatments

Other: DeSSBack

Study type

Interventional

Funder types

Other

Identifiers

NCT04959669

PV041-2019

Details and patient eligibility

About

Low back pain is a common health problem where over than half a billion people worldwide suffers from it. In Malaysia, back pain is among the top ten reasons why people see a doctor. Although there are many guidelines available, healthcare professionals still find managing low back pain as challenging.

The Decision Support System for Low Back Pain (DeSSBack) has been developed by adopting and re-packaging STaRT system, incorporate with the local clinical practice guidelines and feedback from local experts. It aims to aid healthcare professionals in managing low back pain through a stratified approach.

The objective of the study is to evaluate the effectiveness of DeSSBack in improving the management of patients with low back pain in a primary care clinic. We hypothesise that the implementation of DeSSBack will improve the outcomes of low back pain patients including quality of life, emotional state and level of pain.

This study protocol presents the rationale and design of a cluster randomized controlled trial.

Enrollment

210 estimated patients

Sex

All

Ages

18+ years old

Volunteers

No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

Patient seeking care for low back pain at the primary care clinic in UMMC
Male and female
Age 18 years and above
Can understand Malay and English

Exclusion criteria

Potentially serious pathology (eg: cauda equina compression, inflammatory arthritis, malignancy and etc)
Serious co morbidity
Psychiatric illness or personality disorder
Spinal surgery in the last 6 months
Pregnant
Already receiving treatment other than primary care for this episode of back pain
Inability to attend regular physiotherapy appointments.