| Clinical features and settings |
Patients with LBP, irrespective of duration or previous history, presenting to primary care (Germany). Exclusion criteria were insufficient language skills, pregnancy and isolated thoracic pain. |
| Participants |
1353 patients with a mean age of 49 years (range 20–91 years). |
| Study design |
Consecutive patients recruited into a cluster‐randomised controlled trial evaluating strategies to improve the quality of care. 12 months after entering study, data were collected by telephone follow‐up. |
| Target condition and reference standard(s) |
At the 12‐month follow‐up, highly sensitive filter questions (not reported) related to relevant serious conditions that might have caused LBP at the time of recruitment were asked. If at least one of these was answered in the affirmative, diagnosis and/or complaints were recorded and a following telephone interview performed to gather details on healthcare utilisation (e.g. hospital treatments, medication, present complaints and impairments). A reference committee consisting of two experienced GPs and a senior medical student reviewed the evidence collected for each patient. Based on this information, patients were judged to either have a relevant condition or not (delayed‐type reference standard). One case (0.07%) of spinal malignancy was identified. |
| Index and comparator tests |
A written questionnaire at baseline included the question: "Is the low‐back pain familiar to you?" which could be answered "yes" or "no". |
| Follow‐up |
Of 1378 patients recruited, 1353 answered the question with regard to the familiarity of their LBP (index test). Of these patients, 1190 were available for follow‐up at 1 year (reference standard). |
| Notes |
|
| Table of Methodological Quality |
| Item |
Authors' judgement |
Description |
| Representative spectrum?
All tests |
Yes |
Patients with LBP presenting to primary care |
| Acceptable reference standard?
All tests |
Yes |
Long‐term follow‐up |
| Acceptable delay between tests?
All tests |
Unclear |
Unclear from text |
| Partial verification avoided?
All tests |
Yes |
All patients followed up |
| Differential verification avoided?
All tests |
Yes |
All patients followed up |
| Incorporation avoided?
All tests |
Yes |
Index test not part of follow‐up questionnaire |
| Reference standard results blinded?
All tests |
Unclear |
Unclear from text |
| Index test results blinded?
All tests |
Yes |
Index test performed prior to reference standard |
| Relevant clinical information?
All tests |
Yes |
Index test as part of clinical examination |
| Uninterpretable results reported?
All tests |
Unclear |
Unclear from text |
| Withdrawals explained?
All tests |
Unclear |
Unclear from text |
