Contrary to current guidelines and common belief, new research published in The British Medical Journal has shown that recovery from low back pain is much slower than previously thought and even slower again for those with a compensable injury.
Australian researchers at The George Institute for International Health proved that prognosis from acute (or recent) lower back pain is not as favourable as claimed in clinical practice guidelines and challenges the common belief that 90% of patients recover within four to six weeks, with or without treatment.
"We found that recovery from low back pain was typically much slower than previously reported - nearly one third of patients did not recover from the original episode within a year."
The strongest predictor of delayed recovery was if the episode of low back pain was compensable: compensation halved the chances of recovery.
