Table 1 Characteristics of included studies
From: A systematic review and meta-synthesis of the impact of low back pain on people’s lives
Lead author & year | Country | Sample size | % Female | Central age (mean/median) | Aim | Setting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Allegretti, 2010 [32] | USA | 23 | 48 | 45 | To explore patient and physician interviews and improve communication | Family care centre |
Benjaminsson, 2007 [33] | Sweden | 17 | 59 | 36 | To explore how patients respond to recurrence of pain | Physiotherapy clinic |
Borkan, 1995 [34] | Israel | 66 | 65 | 39.5 | To explore patients’ perceptions and experiences | Family practice, clinic, or home |
Bowman, 1991 [35] | USA | 15 | 40 | ND | To investigate the meaning of chronic LBP | ND |
Bowman, 1994a [36] | USA | 15 | 40 | ND | To describe life with LBP | Pain management centres |
Bowman, 1994b [37] | USA | 15 | 40 | ND | To examine the reaction of individuals to chronic LBP | ND |
Busch, 2005 [38] | Sweden | 22 | 68 | 41 | To examine the development of pain related appraisals, coping and well behaviours, as well as to investigate how these processes affect one another during the course of LBP | Private clinic room |
Campbell, 2007 [39] | UK | 16 | ND | ND | To examine expectations for pain treatment and outcome and to determine whether they are influential in maintaining health service consumption | ND |
Chew, 1997 [40] | UK | 20 | 82 | ND | To explore how sufferers of LBP describe their pain and its impact on their lives | ND |
Cook, 2000 [41] | ND | 7 | 57 | 42.3 | To gain an in-depth understanding of individual patients’ experiences of LBP and active rehabilitation | Home, or physiotherapy clinic |
Coole, 2010 [31] | UK | 25 | 52 | 44.7 | To explore the experiences of employed people with back pain regarding the help they have received from GPs | Home, workplace, or local clinic |
Coole, 2010 [42] | UK | 25 | 52 | 44.7 | To explore the individual experiences and perceptions of patients awaiting rehabilitation who were concerned about their ability to work because of persisting, or recurrent, low back pain | Home, workplace, or local clinic |
Corbett, 2007 [43] | UK | 37 | 59 | ND | To explore the struggle between hope and despair through consideration of six people’s narratives about their experiences of chronic LBP | Home, or research centre |
Crowe, 2010 [44] | New Zealand | 64 | 48 | 55.1 | To investigate experiences of the impact of LBP | ND |
Dean, 2010 [47] | New Zealand | 33 | 18 | 47.7 | To explore and document the experiences of NZ farm workers who continue to work despite their LBP | ‘Place of convenience to the participant’ |
Hooper, 2005 [49] | UK | 5 | 50 | ND | To provide opportunities to reflect on clinical practice and on the role of informal carers within the provision of health care for the back pain patient | ND, although it is clear that a participant with back pain has been interviewed with his wife (also his expert carer) |
Holloway, 2007 [48] | UK | 18 | 50 | 53 | To explore and conceptualise the experiences of people of working age who seek help from pain clinics for LBP | Patients’ homes |
Hush, 2009 [12] | Australia | 36 | 42 | 41 | To explore patients’ perceptions of recovery from LBP | Meeting room at University of Sydney |
Hush, 2010 [13] | Australia | 36 | 42 | 41.6 | To explore whether NRS/RMDQ capture meaningful changes | ND |
Keen, 1999 [27] | UK | 27 | 37 | ND | To explore the association influence changes in physical activity and the way individuals perceive and behave with their LBP and the impact of this on physical activity | Homes of participants, and office of PI |
Layzell, 2001 [50] | UK | 12 | 50 | ND | To explore how back pain affects sufferers’ lives | ND |
Liddle, 2007 [51] | UK | 28 | 78 | ND | To explore experiences, opinion, and treatment expectations of LBP to identify what treatment components are valued | Private room in university |
May, 2000 [52] | UK | 12 | 50 | ND | To explore ways persons with long standing chronic LBP respond to medical doubt about the presence of organic pathology | ND |
Morris, 2004 [53] | UK | 6 | 50 | ND | Patients’ experiences of attending a back rehabilitation programme were examined | Participant choice of home, quiet room in hospital, or clinic |
Ong, 2003 [28] | UK | 6 | 50 | ND | To describe course of LBP over 12 months | ND |
Ong, 2004 [54] | UK | 16 | 38 | ND | To explore how people report LBP to clinicians | Patients’ homes |
Ong, 2006 [29] | UK | 2 | 100 | ND | To explore the role of concordance in therapeutic relationships through directly comparing patients’ and clinicians’ accounts of the diagnosis and impact of LBP | Patients’ homes |
Osborn, 1998 [55] | UK | 9 | 100 | ND | To explore the sufferer’s personal experiences of their pain | ND |
Osborn, 2006 [56] | UK | 6 | 40 | 44 | To explore and articulate the meanings and themes that make up the personal experience of the body when in pain | ND |
Reid, 2004 [57] | UK | 50 | 54 | ND | To explore the perceived health needs of chronic LBP patients | Homes and clinics |
Skelton, 1996 [58] | UK | 52 | 50 | 41 | To elicit the views of patients concerning LBP and its management in general practice | ND |
Slade, 2009 [61] | Australia | 18 | 50 | 51.2 | To determine participant-experience of exercise programmes for non-specific LBP | ND |
Slade, 2009 [59] | Australia | 18 | 50 | 51 | To determine what factors are important for patients to engage in exercise programmes | ND |
Slade, 2009 [60] | Australia | 18 | 50 | 51 | To investigate and summarise participant experience of exercise programmes for non-specific LBP and the effects of these experiences on exercise participation and engagement | ND |
Sloots, 2010 [62] | Netherlands | 23 | 52 | 40 | To explore which factors led to drop-out in patients of Turkish and Moroccan origin with chronic nonspecific LBP who participated in a rehabilitation programme | Participant choice of home or clinic |
Smith, 2007 [63] | UK | 6 | 33 | 44 | To explore how chronic benign low back pain may have a serious debilitating impact on the sufferer’s sense of self | ND |
Snelgrove, 2009 [64] | UK | 10 | 70 | ND | To understand the meaning of LBP for participants with longstanding history of chronic pain | Patients’ homes |
de Souza, 2007 [45] | UK | 11 | 55 | 49.3 | To explore and describe the physical consequences of living day-to-day with LBP and to document insider accounts of how the pain impacts daily activities | Participants’ homes |
de Souza, 2011 [46] | UK | 11 | 55 | 49.3 | To explore interactions and relationships within the family and the workplace from the perspective of the person with chronic spinal pain | Participants’ homes |
Sokunbi, 2010 [65] | UK | 9 | 67 | 46.6 | To explore the experiences of a sample of individuals with chronic LBP who participated in an RCT of exercises | Private room in university |
Strong, 1995 [67] | New Zealand | 19 | 58 | 53.7 | To explore coping strategies | ND |
Strong, 1994 [66] | Australia | 8 | 50 | 54.4 | To explore relevant dimensions of pain | Private room in Brisbane Royal Hospital |
Tarasuk, 1995 [30] | Canada | 15 | 33 | ND | To learn about individuals’ experiences and perspectives of longer term ramifications of LBP | ND |
Tavafian, 2008 [68] | Iran | 24 | 100 | 42.9 | To explore Iranian womens’ beliefs about causation | ND |
Tveito, 2010 [69] | USA | 15 | 33 | ND | To address legitimacy concerns in the workplace, particularly those relating to workers’ perceptions of reactions of employers, supervisors, and co-workers | Quiet office |
Young, 2011 [73] | Canada | 31 | 45 | ND | To determine the meaning participants associated with the term ‘recurrence’ | Public library in Vancouver |
Wade, 2003 [70] | South Africa | 3 | 100 | ND | To provide a description of the life-world of people with chronic low back pain | ND |
Walker, 1999 [71] | UK | 20 | 40 | ND | ND | Participants’ homes |
Walker, 2006 [72] | UK | 20 | 40 | ND | To provide a more detailed understanding of the lived experience of chronic back pain prior to seeking help from pain clinics | Participants’ homes |