Treatment guidelines for chronic illnesses often suggest that patients should be partners in the management of their conditions. Often, however, these guidelines are set without knowing patients’ attitudes or opinions about their illness and how it should be controlled. May studied back pain by using semi-structured interviews with patients who had recently received physiotherapy for back pain. A topic guide was used to steer the interview, and themes were extracted and analyzed from the data. Thirteen key themes were revealed; seven of these related to issues of satisfaction with physiotherapy and six themes dealt with the participants' experience of and attitudes to back pain and its management. The latter six themes were: (a) the impact of back pain on their life; (b) perspectives about back pain; (c) its management; (d) their involvement in its management; (e) self-management strategies they knew; and (f) their expectations about physiotherapy. Results suggested that a common finding was a degree of acceptance of the back pain problem and the belief that patient involvement in management was essential.

VALUE OF STUDY TO READER: May concluded that many patients with back pain might respond positively to the message of self-management. Acceptance of this message was not automatic, but generally occurred over time in line with patients' experience of back pain and treatment. We concur with these comments: patients with back pain would likely use self-management if they were taught the skills required to help control their condition. The next step is to develop and apply a formal self-management program for these patients.

S. May. Patients' attitudes and beliefs about back pain and its management after physiotherapy for low back pain. Physiotherapy Research International, June 8, 2007.