Table 4.
Low back pain (LBP) symptoms and paracetamol usage at baseline, 1 week and 1 month stratified by LBP duration
| All participants | Acute or subacute LBP (≤12 weeks) | Chronic LBP (>12 weeks) | ||||
| n | Mean (SD) or % | n | Mean (SD) or % | n | Mean (SD) or % | |
| Low back pain symptoms | ||||||
| LBP Intensity at baseline | 24 | 6.2 (2.2) | 10 | 5.3 (2.5) | 14 | 6.5 (2.1) |
| LBP Intensity at 1 month | 24 | 4.4 (2.7) | 10 | 3.8 (2.9) | 14 | 5.2 (2.3) |
| Paracetamol dosage (500mg tablets) | ||||||
| Daily number of tablets at baseline | 24 | 6.1 (2.5) | 10 | 5.9 (2.6) | 14 | 7.1 (1.5) |
| Daily number of tablets at 1 week | 24 | 4.5 (3.0) | 10 | 3.8 (3.6) | 14 | 6.2 (1.9) |
| Daily number of tablets at 1 month | 24 | 3.9 (2.8) | 10 | 2.7 (2.2) | 14 | 5.3 (2.9) |
| Paracetamol frequency | ||||||
| Daily dose frequency at baseline | 24 | 3.5 (0.8) | 10 | 3.2 (1.4) | 14 | 3.9 (0.5) |
| Daily dose frequency at 1 week | 24 | 2.6 (1.5) | 10 | 2.1 (1.7) | 14 | 3.4 (1.1) |
| Daily dose frequency at 1 month | 24 | 2.5 (1.6) | 10 | 1.8 (1.5) | 14 | 2.9 (1.6) |
| Paracetamol use at baseline | ||||||
| Took paracetamol to manage low back pain | 24 | 100 | 10 | 100 | 14 | 100 |
| Paracetamol use at 1 week | ||||||
| Took paracetamol to manage low back pain | 20 | 83.3 | 7 | 70 | 13 | 92.9 |
| Did not attempt to deprescribe | 9 | 37.5 | 2 | 20 | 7 | 50 |
| Attempted but failed deprescribing | 2 | 8.3 | 2 | 20 | 0 | 0 |
| Successfully reduced their paracetamol dose | 9 | 37.5 | 3 | 30 | 6 | 42.9 |
| Successfully stopped their paracetamol dose | 4 | 16.7 | 3 | 30 | 1 | 7.1 |
| Paracetamol use at 1 month | ||||||
| Took paracetamol to manage low back pain | 18 | 75 | 6 | 60 | 12 | 85.7 |
| Did not attempt to deprescribe | 5 | 20.8 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 35.7 |
| Attempted but failed deprescribing | 4 | 16.7 | 1 | 10 | 3 | 21.4 |
| Successfully reduced their paracetamol dose | 9 | 37.5 | 5 | 50 | 4 | 28.6 |
| Successfully stopped their paracetamol dose | 6 | 25 | 4 | 40 | 2 | 14.3 |