Return to Work and Painkiller Medication after Rehabilitation for Subacute Back Conditions—A 2-Year Follow-Up

Abstract

The study was aimed at evaluating the outcome after 2 years in a population of outpatients suffering from Low Back Pain (LBP) who were treated with a multi-disciplinary approach. The end-points were: 1) the rate of return to work (RTW); 2) the frequency of painkiller medication; 3) the frequency of unavoidable surgical operation; 4) the rate of relapses. Eighty consecutive subjects (75% women) were enrolled. They were referred by general physicians and completed the rehabilitation program at our centre. We followed an open, prospective design. The main results were: RTW: 92.5% positive cases; 7.5% failure. Job cohort settlement: 93.1% the same; 6.9% change. Time interval between discharge and RTW: 76.8% few days after discharge. Painkillers: At follow-up 46 participants (57.5%) could stop the medication. Surgical operations: At admission 39 participants presented with lumbar root involvement (48.7%). Only 4 of them had a surgical intervention (10.2%). In a third of cases of the all sample relapses did not occur. In conclusion, a multi-disciplinary model of intervention led to a high rate of RTW, a reduction of painkiller medication, a low rate of surgical interventions and of relapses as well. Further controlled studies are warranted for assessing the cost/benefit ratio. The clear prevalence of LBP in women recommends measures of preventing Medicine.