TY - JOUR
T1 - Consumer understanding of terms used in imaging reports requested for low back pain
T2 - A cross-sectional survey
AU - Farmer, Caitlin
AU - O'Connor, Denise A.
AU - Lee, Hopin
AU - McCaffery, Kirsten
AU - Maher, Christopher
AU - Newell, Dave
AU - Cashin, Aidan
AU - Byfield, David
AU - Jarvik, Jeffrey
AU - Buchbinder, Rachelle
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding DAO'C is supported by an Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Translating Research into Practice Fellowship (APP1168749). HL is funded by an NHMRC (grant no. APP1126767); receives project funding from the Berkeley Initiative for Transparency in the Social Sciences, a programme of the Centre for Effective Global Action (CEGA), with support from the Laura and John Arnold Foundation. He is also supported by funding from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care Oxford at Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust. JJ is supported by funding from the US National Institute of Health/NIAMS (P30AR072572). CM is supported by an NHMRC Principal Research Fellowship (APP1103022). RB is supported by an NHMRC Senior Principal Research Fellowship (APP1082138). Competing interests CM and RB have received grants from numerous government and not-for-profit agencies; their expenses have been covered by professional associations hosting conferences where they were speakers, and they were both investigators for a trial that received heat wraps from Flexeze at no cost. Patient consent for publication Not required.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 BMJ Publishing Group. All rights reserved.
Copyright:
Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2021/9
Y1 - 2021/9
N2 - Objectives To investigate (1) self-reported societal comprehension of common and usually non-serious terms found in lumbar spine imaging reports and (2) its relationship to perceived seriousness, likely persistence of low back pain (LBP), fear of movement, back beliefs and history and intensity of LBP. Design Cross-sectional online survey of the general public. Setting Five English-speaking countries: UK, USA, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. Participants Adults (age >18 years) with or without a history of LBP recruited in April 2019 with quotas for country, age and gender. Primary and secondary outcome measures Self-reported understanding of 14 terms (annular fissure, disc bulge, disc degeneration, disc extrusion, disc height loss, disc protrusion, disc signal loss, facet joint degeneration, high intensity zone, mild canal stenosis, Modic changes, nerve root contact, spondylolisthesis and spondylosis) commonly found in lumbar spine imaging reports. For each term, we also elicited worry about its seriousness, and whether its presence would indicate pain persistence and prompt fear of movement. Results From 774 responses, we included 677 (87.5%) with complete and valid responses. 577 (85%) participants had a current or past history of LBP of whom 251 (44%) had received lumbar spine imaging. Self-reported understanding of all terms was poor. At best, 235 (35%) reported understanding the term € disc degeneration', while only 71 (10.5%) reported understanding the term € Modic changes'. For all terms, a moderate to large proportion of participants (range 59%-71%), considered they indicated a serious back problem, that pain might persist (range 52%-71%) and they would be fearful of movement (range 42%-57%). Conclusion Common and usually non-serious terms in lumbar spine imaging reports are poorly understood by the general population and may contribute to the burden of LBP. Trial registration number ACTRN12619000545167.
AB - Objectives To investigate (1) self-reported societal comprehension of common and usually non-serious terms found in lumbar spine imaging reports and (2) its relationship to perceived seriousness, likely persistence of low back pain (LBP), fear of movement, back beliefs and history and intensity of LBP. Design Cross-sectional online survey of the general public. Setting Five English-speaking countries: UK, USA, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. Participants Adults (age >18 years) with or without a history of LBP recruited in April 2019 with quotas for country, age and gender. Primary and secondary outcome measures Self-reported understanding of 14 terms (annular fissure, disc bulge, disc degeneration, disc extrusion, disc height loss, disc protrusion, disc signal loss, facet joint degeneration, high intensity zone, mild canal stenosis, Modic changes, nerve root contact, spondylolisthesis and spondylosis) commonly found in lumbar spine imaging reports. For each term, we also elicited worry about its seriousness, and whether its presence would indicate pain persistence and prompt fear of movement. Results From 774 responses, we included 677 (87.5%) with complete and valid responses. 577 (85%) participants had a current or past history of LBP of whom 251 (44%) had received lumbar spine imaging. Self-reported understanding of all terms was poor. At best, 235 (35%) reported understanding the term € disc degeneration', while only 71 (10.5%) reported understanding the term € Modic changes'. For all terms, a moderate to large proportion of participants (range 59%-71%), considered they indicated a serious back problem, that pain might persist (range 52%-71%) and they would be fearful of movement (range 42%-57%). Conclusion Common and usually non-serious terms in lumbar spine imaging reports are poorly understood by the general population and may contribute to the burden of LBP. Trial registration number ACTRN12619000545167.
KW - back pain
KW - diagnostic radiology
KW - Musculoskeletal disorders
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85115203267&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-049938
DO - 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-049938
M3 - Review Article
C2 - 34518265
AN - SCOPUS:85115203267
SN - 2044-6055
VL - 11
JO - BMJ Open
JF - BMJ Open
IS - 9
M1 - e049938
ER -