Back pain

Number of patients consulting

The graph below shows the estimated number of patients in Scotland (per 1,000 registered with a practice) who consulted either a GP or practice nurse for back pain at least once in the year ending 31 March 2009, by gender and age group. In all age groups there was a larger number of females consulting compared to males. However, surveys¹ suggest that back pain is more common in men than women, and these apparent differences may only reflect the fact that women are more likely to consult than men.

Estimates are standardised by deprivation to account for any differences between the PTI sample population and the Scottish practice population in levels of deprivation. These figures and comparable figures for 2003/04 to 2007/08 are also provided in tabular format in an Excel document  (91KB). This table also contains the 95% confidence intervals for all estimates. The confidence intervals for back pain estimates are generally fairly narrow (except for the youngest age groups), associated with higher precision of the estimates. This can be expected when the numbers of patients are large and variation between practices is relatively small.

Back pain² - estimated number of patients in Scotland consulting a GP or practice nurse at least once in the financial year 2008/09^{3, 4} per 1,000 patients registered
by gender and age group

¹ Palmer KT, Walsh K, Bendall H, Cooper C, Coggon D. Back pain in Britain: comparison of two prevalence surveys at an interval of 10 years. BMJ 2000;320:1577.
² Read codes are specifically selected for analysis of this condition.  Please refer to the PTI team for further clarification.
³ Based on 58 PTI practices that submitted complete GP and practice nurse data for the year ending 31 March 2009. Rates are standardised by deprivation.
⁴ Population source: Community Health Index (CHI) record, as at 30 September 2008.

Note: Due to slightly updated rules determining what records describe a face-to-face contact and what records should be considered as administration, which were applied retrospectively, figures shown here are not strictly comparable to these provided prior to 30 March 2010.  See the Note of Revisions for further information.

Source: Practice Team Information  (PTI), ISD Scotland (last updated 30 March 2010)

Number of consultations

The chart below shows the estimated numbers of consultations in Scotland for back pain for the six financial years 2003/04 to 2008/09, by staff discipline. These figures are provided in tabular format in an Excel document  (21KB), which includes 95% confidence intervals for all estimates.

After a steady reduction in numbers over the first five years (although differences are relatively small and generally not statistically significant) the estimated number of contacts rose again in 2008/09. The changes from year to year in the estimated numbers of patients seen for back pain (see the Excel document referred to in the Number of Patients section above) are even less consistent and no clear trend can be observed. Most of the contacts for back pain were with the GP, with a very small proportion of practice nurse contacts.

Estimates are standardised by age, gender and deprivation to account for any differences in these characteristics between the PTI sample population and the Scottish practice population.

Back pain¹ - estimated number of consultations with a GP or practice-employed nurse in Scotland in the financial years 2003/04 to 2008/09^{2, 3}
by staff discipline

* Health visitor and district nurse data are not available from the financial year 2006/07 onwards.
¹ Read codes are specifically selected for analysis of this condition.  Please contact the  PTI team for further clarification
² Based on 59, 53, 51, 49, 48 and 58 PTI practices that submitted complete data for the years ending 31 March 2004 to 2009, respectively. Figures are standardised by age, gender and deprivation.
³ Population source: Community Health Index (CHI) record, as at 30 September 2003 to 2008.

Note: Due to slightly updated rules determining what records describe a face-to-face contact and what records should be considered as administration, which were applied retrospectively, figures shown here are not strictly comparable to these provided prior to 30 March 2010.  See the Note of Revisions  for further information.

Source: Practice Team Information  (PTI), ISD Scotland (last updated 30 March 2010)