11/01/2013 - PATIENT OUTCOMES AND EXPERIENCES OF AN ACUPUNCTURE AND SELF-CARE SERVICE FOR PERSISTENT LOW BACK PAIN: A MIXED METHODS APPROACH

[BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine] Supported self-management, acupuncture, and information can help reduce the symptoms of low back pain. These approaches are currently recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence in the U.K. as treatment options for patients with persistent low back pain. However, there has been no previous evaluation of a service providing them together for this common problem. The purpose of a service evaluation project by the Beating Back Pain Service (BBPS ) was to report patient outcomes and experiences in a primary and community care setting, delivering acupuncture, self-management, and information to patients with chronic low back pain. The BBPS provided musculoskeletal pain management combining self-management with acupuncture, which was found to be highly effective by patients who completed a questionnaire about their back pain problems after such combined treatment. Further consideration of these methods is required regarding how to best engage patients in self-management.

http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6882/13/300/abstract