Physiotherapist prescribing for low back pain (LBP)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Independent Prescribing by Advanced Physiotherapists for Patients with Low Back Pain in Primary Care: a feasibility trial with an embedded qualitative component
IRAS ID
250734
Contact name
Alison B Rushton
Contact email
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
RG_18-101, Sponsor reference
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 3 months, 31 days
Research summary
In the UK 3.2 million working days are lost annually due to 30% of adults experiencing low back pain (LBP) at any one time. 20% of individuals with low back pain seek care from their GP, representing 7% of all GP consultations. Early assessment and management of LBP is important to reduce long term pain and disability. Currently, there are too few GPs to meet the demands of the British public, with numbers predicted to fall further by 2020. To help combat this shortage, a range of organisations including the British Medical Association and the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy have committed to enabling direct access to physiotherapists in their local health centre without having to see a GP first for problems such as low LBP. It is envisaged that Advanced Physiotherapy Practitioners (APPs) working in these roles will prescribe medicines such as pain killers as part of a holistic treatment strategy to get patients managing their back pain as quickly and as best as possible.
Physiotherapist prescribing remains novel, with the first prescribers qualifying in 2013. The true benefits now need to be evaluated, to do this we need to complete a clinical trial. To ensure that we are able to complete a trail of worth, we are first completing a feasibility trial. The feasibility trial will explore the measures that we use to assess outcomes from treatment by using questionnaires and small devices call accelerometers (like 'fitbits') which assess how active or still people are during the day. The trial will also explore how patients and physiotherapists involved in the feasibility trial found taking part, via focus groups and interviews. It is anticipated that the results of this feasibility trial will be used in conjunction with a host of information when finalising the designing of a full clinical trial.
REC name
London - West London & GTAC Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/LO/1793
Date of REC Opinion
30 Oct 2018
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion