Survey Shows Patients With Low Back Pain Delay Seeking Help – (11-02-00)

Survey Shows Patients With Low Back Pain Delay Seeking Help

Consider me biased in this issue, but I would have to agree. Too many times I have patients coming in months later, thinking that “it would go away.” The longer a problem is there, the more difficult it becomes to manage.

(article) A majority of physicians (87%) reported that patients with acute lower back pain waited 3 or more days before seeking medical help, according to a recent Internet survey of 378 primary care physicians. Furthermore, physicians indicated that the primary reasons for patients seeking help were that the condition interfered with their ability to work, to conduct daily activities, and because over-the-counter (OTC) treatments were ineffective. The survey was sponsored by www.pain.com, which is developed and maintained by the Dannemiller Memorial Educational Foundation.”Acute lower back pain might be more of a national problem than we originally thought. It was especially surprising to learn that so many people waited for days before getting the help that they needed,” commented Larry P. Vervack, Executive Director of Dannemiller Memorial Educational Foundation. “People need to know that they don’t have to delay seeking help for their pain.”