Low back pain is a widespread public health issue that has been the primary cause of disability for the last three decades. Low back pain poses a significant financial burden on healthcare systems worldwide, costing up to £2.8 billion in the UK and $4.8 billion in Australia each year. While many high-quality randomised trials have tested various treatments for low back pain, like panadol, none have been proven to be very effective. Randomised trials are the most reliable type of study because they randomly assign participants to different groups, which helps to eliminate bias and other factors that could influence the results. This allows researchers to make stronger conclusions about cause and effect. Although a major flaw of randomised trials is that the results can be difficult to apply to different groups or locations because the study population and setting may not represent people in the real world.
Our study aims to determine whether the participants in these trials are representative of the Uk BioBank in terms of their response to treatments for low back pain. If they are not, we will estimate the effects of these treatments on the UK BioBank. We are conducting this study because there are only a few high-quality trials of treatments for low back pain, and they have not been replicated in the UK BioBank or in other countries where how well the treatments work may differ.
We expect to complete this project within two years of obtaining data. The impact of our study will be significant, as we will provide tailored estimates of treatment efficacy for the countries for which we have data, formally determining whether the treatments are effective for people in groups outside of the trial, like the UK BioBank. By doing so, we can better inform healthcare policies and clinical practice, ultimately benefiting people with low back pain worldwide.