PuSH - Publication Server of Helmholtz Zentrum München

Viniol, A.* ; Jegan, N.* ; Hirsch, O.* ; Leonhardt, C.* ; Brugger, M. ; Strauch, K. ; Barth, J.A.C.* ; Baum, E.* ; Becker, A.*

Chronic low back pain patient groups in primary care - a cross sectional cluster analysis.

BMC Musculoskelet. Disord. 14:294 (2013)
Publ. Version/Full Text Volltext DOI PMC
Open Access Gold
Background: Due to the heterogeneous nature of chronic low back pain (CLBP), it is necessary to identify patient groups and evaluate treatments within these groups. We aimed to identify groups of patients with CLBP in the primary care setting. Methods: We performed a k-means cluster analysis on a large data set (n = 634) of primary care patients with CLBP. Variables of sociodemographic data, pain characteristics, psychological status (i.e., depression, anxiety, somatization), and the patient resources of resilience and coping strategies were included. Results: We found three clusters that can be characterized as "pensioners with age-associated pain caused by degenerative diseases", "middle-aged patients with high mental distress and poor coping resources", and "middle-aged patients who are less pain-affected and better positioned with regard to their mental health". Conclusions: Our results supported current knowledge concerning groups of CLBP patients in primary care. In particular, we identified a group that was most disabled and distressed, and which was mainly characterized by psychological variables. As shown in our study, pain-related coping strategies and resilience were low in these patients and might be addressed in differentiating treatment strategies. Future studies should focus on the identification of this group in order to achieve effective treatment allocation.
Altmetric
Additional Metrics?
[➜Log in]
Edit extra informations Login
Publication type Article: Journal article
Document type Scientific Article
Corresponding Author
Keywords Subgroups ; Chronic Low Back Pain ; Primary Care; Risk-factors ; Depression Scale ; Hospital Anxiety ; Disability ; Subgroups ; Fibromyalgia ; Fear ; Identification ; Questionnaire ; Comorbidity
e-ISSN 1471-2474
Journal BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders
Quellenangaben Volume: 14, Issue: 1, Pages: , Article Number: 294 Supplement: ,
Publisher BioMed Central
Non-patent literature Publications
Reviewing status Peer reviewed
Institute(s) Institute of Genetic Epidemiology (IGE)