JRSM > Volume 95, Number 5 > Pp. 272

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Back pain—whose responsibility?

John K Paterson

1 rue du Castellas, 13640 la Roque D'Anthéron, France.

In his account of the RSM's excellent conference (February 2002 JRSM¹) Malcolm Morrison rightly indicates that no formal conclusions were reached nor were any resolutions passed. My chief disappointment in the meeting was the under-representation of medical educators.

I entirely agree that more cases of back pain should be dealt with in primary care (or in the workplace). There is a mass of evidence on the efficacy and safety of musculoskeletal therapies². But I cannot accept that it is ‘... the responsibility of all those who deal with back pain, across the disciplines, to ensure that patients do not endure prolonged suffering...’; at present they cannot help it— the great majority of them do not know how!

Professor Mansell Aylward made some pertinent comments on the costs. The most important factor in improving the patient's lot is surely for those in primary care to be taught how to deal with these disorders. Contrary to some long held beliefs³, this is not time-consuming and diminishes the primary-care clinical work-load by reducing the need for multiple follow-up attendances.

REFERENCES

1. Morrison M. Back pain—whose responsibility? J R Soc Med 2002;95:98 -9

2. Burn L, Paterson JK. Musculoskeletal Medicine, the Spine. London: Kluwer Academic, 1990

3. British Medical Association. Report of the Board of Science and Education. Alternative Therapy. London: BMA,1986

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This Article Full Text (PDF) Send a Quick Comment Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when Quick Comments are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Paterson, J. K Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Social Bookmarking                      What's this?