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. 2023 Aug 15;15(8):e43543.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.43543. eCollection 2023 Aug.

Evaluating the Usage of Musculoskeletal Spinal Drop-In Services in East Lancashire: A Retrospective Audit of Performance Standards

Khalid A Al-Hashimi  1 , Umar N Said  2 , Abdullah Elrefae  3 , Taherah Khan  4
Affiliations

Evaluating the Usage of Musculoskeletal Spinal Drop-In Services in East Lancashire: A Retrospective Audit of Performance Standards

Khalid A Al-Hashimi et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

Lower back pain (LBP) is a prevalent musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) that places a significant burden on patients as well as healthcare and economic systems. Musculoskeletal (MSK) spinal drop-in clinics in the North West of the United Kingdom (UK) have been introduced to provide more targeted therapies for those suffering from LBP. A retrospective audit was conducted from January to February 2017 to evaluate the utilization of the spinal clinic in relation to individual patient Keele STarT Back prognostication scores and to compare these with national guidelines. A total of 50 patients' case notes were reviewed over the four-week period. The focus was placed on how patients were made aware of the clinic, whether they had been seen by a primary care provider, and if first-line therapies had been administered. The results of this study demonstrate that some improvement is required in patient management and seek to provide recommendations for optimizing the service.

Keywords: clincal audit; lower back pain (lbp); msk pain; start back tool; walk in clinic.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Spinal drop-in service analysis study questionnaire.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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