The purpose of this project was to determine if evidence-based care is more effective than usual care in improving the functional status of patients with acute mechanical lower back pain, and whether it is effective in improving return-to-work outcomes

The researchers explored whether treatment outcomes for patients with acute lower back pain are more favourable when treatment is provided following clinical practice guidelines. Clinical practice guidelines recommend the treatments with the strongest evidence according to independent reviews of the scientific literature. The study compared the progress of patients receiving either usual care under a family physician or clinical practice guidelines-based care through the Non-operative Orthopaedic Spine Program at Vancouver General Hospital

Results showed that patients treated according to the clinical practice guidelines experienced greater functional improvements and greater improvements in quality of life measures than patients receiving family physician-directed usual care