Subacute and Chronic, Non-specific Back and Neck Pain: Cognitive-behavioral Rehabilitation vs. Traditional Primary Care

BACKGROUND Non-specific back and neck pain (BNP) dominates sick-listing. A program of cognitive-behavioral rehabilitation for subacute and chronic BNP was compared, with 18-month follow-up, with traditional primary care concerning sick-listing and health-care visits. METHODS After stratification to age (44 (years) and younger/45 and older) and subacute/chronic BNP (= full-time sick-listed 43-84/85-730 days respectively), 125 primary-care patients were randomized to a rehabilitation center or continued health-center care. Outcome measures were Return-to-work (=the proportion who regained work ability for at least 30 consecutive days), the proportion with Work ability at different time points, Total sick-listing (expressed in whole days) and the total number of Visits (to physicians, physiotherapists etc.) 1-18 months and corresponding six-month periods. For the analyses were used t-test, z-test, generalized estimating equations and a mixed, linear model.