PubMed · 8027874
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R W Bohannon. 1994. Measurement variability for feigned effort.. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8027874/
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Neurologists are often called on to see patients who have low back pain presenting with significant chronicity and disabling pain. Even in situations of chronic low back pain, it has been estimated that a structural diagnosis is made only 60% of the time. Even when a physical diagnosis is made in these cases, it may be irrelevant to the primary causes of persistent pain and disability. This article is designed to point out that, when nonstructural factors are adequately rehabilitated, even in a worst-case occupational injury cohort, remarkable outcomes can be anticipated irrespective of the structural pathology, patient age, or postoperative impairment.
The conceptualization of pain and its progression into chronic disability has evolved from unidimensional models to more integrative, biopsychosocial models that take into account the many biological, psychosocial, social, and economic factors that may significantly contribute to the low back pain experience. This chapter reviews various studies that have demonstrated our growing understanding of these complex, interactive processes in helping to predict those who develop chronic disability as well as those who respond best to treatment attempts. Further, we examine the issue of compensation and how it too is intricately intertwined with the other variables contributing to lower back pain disability.
Individuals who have severe back pain have trouble bending, may not be able to put on their shoes, have difficulty in ambulation, and may not be able to clean their own houses. What distinguishes these individuals with low back pain from those afflicted with other conditions (i.e., congestive heart failure, metastatic cancer, symptomatic acquired immune deficiency syndrome) is prognosis. Back pain essentially never shortens life. Acute back pain has a very benign prognosis, with more than 90% of the individuals returning to functional status equivalent to their baseline status within 3 months of the onset of pain. Patients who have chronic back pain have a significantly worse prognosis, but most cohort studies show that substantial numbers of chronic back pain patients improve over time with supportive therapy.