RBWH Emergency Department (ED) has more than 400,000 people present every year, with acute low-back pain being the fifth most common reason for visits. This project investigated treatment alignment with guidelines, to explore patients’ experiences when dealing with acute low-back pain.

Treatment guidelines for low-back pain, set by the ACSQHC (Low Back Pain Clinical Care Standard | Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care), recommend early mobilisation, provision of advice and exercise, application of heat and use of simple analgesics, which patients can also apply in ongoing self-managed care and reduce the likelihood of needing to return to the emergency department for low-back-pain. Despite being the fifth most common cause for RBWH ED visits, the extent to which low-back-pain patients receive and apply guideline-aligned treatment was unknown. This study addressed this gap by engaging with patients to explore their experiences and understanding of information provided, assessing treatment alignment with guidelines. The findings identified areas for improvement in communication and information provision.

This study bridged gaps in communication by gathering insights into the experiences and understanding of low-back-pain patients regarding ED care and the alignment of treatment advice with guidelines. Recommendations for enhanced communication strategies and additional resources contributed to better alignment with treatment guidelines, reducing the need for low-back-pain patients to return to the ED. These findings empowered patients with the knowledge and resources for effective self-managed care.

"Support from the RBWH Foundation is invaluable for projects that are small enough not to warrant a large grant submission yet impactful enough to warrant investigation. This grant allowed us to carry out this important work and we hope that this study's findings will add to the improvement of low back pain management in the ED."