Back pain 'epidemic' call

Tuesday October 11th, 2011

European specialists have called for more research into back-pain to deal with the "silent epidemic."

The call came yesterday as the European Week against Pain was launched.

Prof Dr Hans Georg Kress, of Vienna Medical University, Austria, president of the European Federation of IASP Chapters, promised initiatives in 35 European countries.

Professor Kress said 95 per cent of back-pain was treated as "non-specific".

Prof Dr Maarten van Kleef, of Maastricht University Medical Centre, the Netherlands, co-ordinator of the week, said patients who appeared to recover and return to work frequently suffered from chronic pain.

He said: "Back pain will then persist in almost half of all patients for more than five years. Many of them will suffer moderate or severe pain despite the treatments they received according to current medical knowledge.

"Yet even most primary care providers and health care decision-makers are unaware of this, with the result that this haunting condition is generally under-estimated.”

* A survey of some 1,300 primary care doctors from 13 European countries found that most regard chronic pain as one of the "most challenging conditions."

Dr Martin Johnson, of the OPENMinds Primary Care group, said: "Awareness of the impact of pain and the need for correct assessment and monitoring is crucial. People with chronic pain and their physicians need to work together to ensure that there is regular and comprehensive assessment.

"Accurate assessment of pain in a consultation is achievable using the right techniques."

Tags: Europe | Orthopaedics | Pain Relief

Printer friendly page