General practitioners' management of lumbosacral radicular syndrome compared with a clinical guideline

Pim A.J. Luijsterburg; Arianne P. Verhagen; Sigrid Braak; Anushka Oemraw; Cees J.J. Avezaat; Bart W. Koes

doi:10.3109/13814780509178250

General practitioners' management of lumbosacral radicular syndrome compared with a clinical guideline

Pim A.J. Luijsterburg^*, Arianne P. Verhagen, Sigrid Braak, Anushka Oemraw, Cees J.J. Avezaat, Bart W. Koes

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

11 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the current treatment policy of general practitioners (GPs) in patients with a lumbosacral radicular syndrome (LRS) compared with their clinical guideline.

Design: A cross sectional survey.

Methods: Sixty-three GPs completed questionnaires about their treatment policy in individual LRS patients at baseline and at six months follow-up. Simultaneously, 136 LRS patients of these GPs were interviewed at baseline, and at three and six month's follow-up.

Results: Of the 12 recommendations in the guideline related to history taking, four were not adhered to by the GPs in about 25% of the patients. Of the ten recommended physical examinations, three are not frequently carried out by the GPs. Almost 40% of the patients were referred to physiotherapy and 27% received muscle relaxants.

Conclusion: The majority of the GPs support the content of the LRS guideline. Overall, there was a good adherence with the guideline for history taking and physical examination, and a moderate adherence for treatment policy.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	113-118
Number of pages	6
Journal	European Journal of General Practice
Volume	11
Issue number	3-4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3109/13814780509178250
Publication status	Published - 2005

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title = "General practitioners' management of lumbosacral radicular syndrome compared with a clinical guideline",

abstract = "Objective: To investigate the current treatment policy of general practitioners (GPs) in patients with a lumbosacral radicular syndrome (LRS) compared with their clinical guideline. Design: A cross sectional survey. Methods: Sixty-three GPs completed questionnaires about their treatment policy in individual LRS patients at baseline and at six months follow-up. Simultaneously, 136 LRS patients of these GPs were interviewed at baseline, and at three and six month's follow-up. Results: Of the 12 recommendations in the guideline related to history taking, four were not adhered to by the GPs in about 25% of the patients. Of the ten recommended physical examinations, three are not frequently carried out by the GPs. Almost 40% of the patients were referred to physiotherapy and 27% received muscle relaxants. Conclusion: The majority of the GPs support the content of the LRS guideline. Overall, there was a good adherence with the guideline for history taking and physical examination, and a moderate adherence for treatment policy.",

author = "Luijsterburg, {Pim A.J.} and Verhagen, {Arianne P.} and Sigrid Braak and Anushka Oemraw and Avezaat, {Cees J.J.} and Koes, {Bart W.}",

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AU - Luijsterburg, Pim A.J.

AU - Verhagen, Arianne P.

AU - Braak, Sigrid

AU - Oemraw, Anushka

AU - Avezaat, Cees J.J.

AU - Koes, Bart W.

PY - 2005

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N2 - Objective: To investigate the current treatment policy of general practitioners (GPs) in patients with a lumbosacral radicular syndrome (LRS) compared with their clinical guideline. Design: A cross sectional survey. Methods: Sixty-three GPs completed questionnaires about their treatment policy in individual LRS patients at baseline and at six months follow-up. Simultaneously, 136 LRS patients of these GPs were interviewed at baseline, and at three and six month's follow-up. Results: Of the 12 recommendations in the guideline related to history taking, four were not adhered to by the GPs in about 25% of the patients. Of the ten recommended physical examinations, three are not frequently carried out by the GPs. Almost 40% of the patients were referred to physiotherapy and 27% received muscle relaxants. Conclusion: The majority of the GPs support the content of the LRS guideline. Overall, there was a good adherence with the guideline for history taking and physical examination, and a moderate adherence for treatment policy.

AB - Objective: To investigate the current treatment policy of general practitioners (GPs) in patients with a lumbosacral radicular syndrome (LRS) compared with their clinical guideline. Design: A cross sectional survey. Methods: Sixty-three GPs completed questionnaires about their treatment policy in individual LRS patients at baseline and at six months follow-up. Simultaneously, 136 LRS patients of these GPs were interviewed at baseline, and at three and six month's follow-up. Results: Of the 12 recommendations in the guideline related to history taking, four were not adhered to by the GPs in about 25% of the patients. Of the ten recommended physical examinations, three are not frequently carried out by the GPs. Almost 40% of the patients were referred to physiotherapy and 27% received muscle relaxants. Conclusion: The majority of the GPs support the content of the LRS guideline. Overall, there was a good adherence with the guideline for history taking and physical examination, and a moderate adherence for treatment policy.

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General practitioners' management of lumbosacral radicular syndrome compared with a clinical guideline

Abstract

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