Effectiveness of an Electronic Decision Support System (DeSSBack) in Improving the Management of Low Back Pain

Low back pain is a common health problem where over than half a billion people worldwide suffers from it. In Malaysia, back pain is among the top ten reasons why people see a doctor. Although there are many guidelines available, healthcare professionals still find managing low back pain as challenging. The Decision Support System for Low Back Pain (DeSSBack) has been developed by adopting and re-packaging STaRT system, incorporate with the local clinical practice guidelines and feedback from local experts. It aims to aid healthcare professionals in managing low back pain through a stratified approach. The objective of the study is to evaluate the effectiveness of DeSSBack in improving the management of patients with low back pain in a primary care clinic. We hypothesise that the implementation of DeSSBack will improve the outcomes of low back pain patients including quality of life, emotional state and level of pain. This study protocol presents the rationale and design of a cluster randomized controlled trial.