Systematic Review of Chronic Back Pain

Running head: SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF CHRONIC BACK PAIN
Systematic Review of Chronic Back Pain
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1SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF CHRONIC BACK PAIN
Table of Contents
Step 3: Research report..............................................................................................................2
Research Question......................................................................................................................2
Evaluation of research................................................................................................................2
Research Topic...........................................................................................................................3
Literature Review.......................................................................................................................4
Recommendations for Future Research.....................................................................................6
Step 2: Annotated Bibliography.................................................................................................7
References..................................................................................................................................9

2SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF CHRONIC BACK PAIN
Step 3: Research report
Research Question
There are a number of chronic conditions listed under the Australian Institute of
Health and Welfare. One of such conditions includes chronic back pain in adults over the age
of 50 years (P). For treatment of this condition, traditionally several pain medications (C)
have been implemented for decades. However, the medications have failed to provide a long-
term relief from the symptoms. Therefore, currently various alternative therapies (I) are being
suggested which may result in effective management of the symptoms (O). Therefore, the
research question is: Effect of complementary therapies over traditional medicines in chronic
back pain in adults over the age of 50 years.
Evaluation of research
Logical and stepwise description of the study design is one of the major strength of
the literature by Yeganeh et al. (2016). The systematic search with five major databases:
Medline, CINAHL, Science Direct, CAJ Full-text Database and Cochrane database, has been
proven to be beneficial for the searches. The literature search was limited to articles
published up to May 2013 and the language was set at Persian and English. Selecting
literatures that were based on randomized control trials enabled the authors to do a better
assessment. Uses of a variety of search terms such as non-pharmacologic, complementary
and alternative medicine and low back pain have helped the reviewers to gain 415 hits at
once. Exclusion was done based on abstract, duplication and detailed analysis of the full text
and finally 7 articles were selected. Using two independent reviewers for data extraction and
Cochrane Back Review Risk of Bias criteria, reduced the chances of bias. The homogeneity

3SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF CHRONIC BACK PAIN
present in the final 7 articles made the researchers perform a meta-analysis on them. The
systematic review was able to establish the favorable effects of acupuncture, acupressure and
chiropractic on self-reported pain and LBP in adults.
Research Topic
The research topic is studying the effects of different kinds of complementary
therapies that have the potential to effectively manage the condition of chronic back pain in
people over the age of 50 years (Qaseem et al., 2017). The health outcomes include the
actions taken to improve the chronic conditions and not the ones that are required to be
implemented. It allows flexibility that helps in developing strategies and implementing those
strategies or policies to provide specific health services that result in a positive patient
outcome (Chaparro et al., 2013). Complementary therapies include physiotherapy,
acupuncture, massages, hydro-massage, Tai chi or spinal manipulation therapies. For decades
the condition of chronic back pain has been treated with medications which could not result
in any permanent relief from the disease. Modern treatment methods have been proven to be
effective in providing long-lasting relief from the pain. Such as acupuncture, which is a
traditional Chinese therapeutic technique, involves inserting thin needles at specific nerve-
points or acupoints to release endorphin and thereby block pain sensations (Eccleston et al.,
2014). Spinal manipulations involve massaging of the soft tissues around the spinal area or
around the ligaments and the vertebrae by chiropractors and osteopathic physicians,
respectively, to reduce the back pain in adults. Also the most talked about exercise therapy
Tai chi is used for effective management of chronic back pain. This includes movement in
slow motion and shifting of weight to gradually improve the musculoskeletal strength and the
stability of the joints. Hydrotherapy promotes blood circulation through the muscles by using