Back and neck pain are among the leading causes of disability in Australia and place a massive financial burden on our healthcare systems.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare recently reported that around four million Australians—one in six people—experience back issues.

Alarmingly, back pain is the third leading cause of disease burden in Australia, accounting for 4.2 per cent of the total disease burden and costing upwards of $3.4 billion annually.

Now a large longitudinal study on back and neck pain has been launched to take a comprehensive look at the prevalence, risk factors and impact of back and neck pain and to investigate effective treatments.

The Australian Longitudinal Study on Back and Neck Pain—a collaboration between The University of Adelaide and the University of South Australia—has been in the making for almost three years, with contributions from consumers with lived experience, clinicians, researchers and industry and government partners.

Dr Rutger de Zoete APAM, a physiotherapy lecturer and researcher at the University of Adelaide, says that while the amount of attention paid to back and neck pain is growing, there is a lack of data about where people with back and neck pain go looking for relief.

‘We currently only have limited insight into where these people go, what it costs for the patients and the healthcare systems or how effective the treatments are.

‘Do patients with back and neck pain improve over time or do they keep trying to find treatments that may be effective, after trialling some treatment that may have been ineffective?’ Rutger says.

The study is a comprehensive annual survey, and aims to:

• determine the prevalence and incidence of back and neck pain in the Australian population
• identify risk factors associated with the development and persistence of back and neck pain
• determine the impact of back and neck pain on physical and mental health, quality of life, and healthcare utilisation and costs
• investigate the effectiveness of various treatment approaches for back and neck pain
• develop evidence-based recommendations for the prevention and management of back and neck pain at a population level.

The survey was developed in consultation with a consumer advisory group, ensuring that it is patient-focused and responsive to the needs and concerns of patients with back and neck pain.

It includes questions about their experiences with back and neck pain, such as onset and severity, lifestyle factors, comorbidities and psychological and social aspects as well as the treatments and interventions tried, the effects of treatment, opinions on the treatments and associated costs and impacts.

After completing the initial survey, participants will be prompted to complete follow-up surveys annually, which will provide meaningful data on how back and neck pain presentations change over time.

The study enrolled more than 1000 participants in its first week and Rutger says an initial analysis of the first dataset will commence in the coming months to provide a snapshot of the current state of back and neck pain in Australia.

‘There are three questions we’d like to answer.

‘First, what is the current impact of these two conditions on quality of life in Australia?

‘You can only answer that question by doing a broad survey like this and analysing it nationwide.

‘Second, what are the risk factors for back and neck pain in Australia?

‘We have a broad idea of what they are but we want to make it specific to Australia.

‘The third question is about healthcare access and utilisation—what are people doing with their back and neck pain, who are they seeing for potential assessment and treatment, how are they managing that and how effective are the treatments they are trying?’ Rutger says.

‘We’ll be able to answer those questions in the short term from the initial cohort but then, as we continue, I hope that we can work with partners, policymakers and government to disseminate our findings and ultimately help reduce the burden of this critically important public health challenge.

‘For example, we might see that resources are being allocated to a particular intervention that might not be as effective as another intervention; therefore, we can try to shift attention to clinical approaches that we know are more effective,’ he says.

Ultimately, says Rutger, he hopes that the study will provide comprehensive data to support effective treatments and interventions and will help both patients and clinicians to define and implement high value, best practice care for back and neck pain.

>> Anyone with back and/or neck pain living in Australia can participate by visiting painstudy.org.au. Completing the survey takes approximately 30–60 minutes and participants can win prizes worth up to $500.