International Journal of General Medicine (Dec 2021)
Attitudes and Beliefs of Primary Care Physicians Working in Saudi Arabia Regarding the Management of Low Back Pain: A Cross-Sectional Study
Abstract
Ahmed S Alhowimel,1 Mazyad A Alotaibi,1 Dalyah M Alamam,2 Faris A Alodaibi,2 Julie M Fritz3 1Department of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Alkharj, Saudi Arabia; 2Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 3Department of Physical Therapy and Athletic Training, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USACorrespondence: Ahmed S AlhowimelDepartment of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Alkharj, 11942, Saudi ArabiaTel +966 115886354Email [email protected]; [email protected]: Healthcare professionals’ beliefs and attitudes towards low back pain management play a significant role during treatment. This is a crucial aspect of primary care physicians working as a first point of contact for people seeking healthcare for low back pain.Aim: To identify the beliefs and behaviors of frontline healthcare professionals (primary care physicians) working in the Riyadh region with regard to low back pain management.Methods: A cross-sectional design was implemented, in which the Pain Attitude and Beliefs Scale (PABS) questionnaire was used along with a low back pain clinical vignette with some questions. The PABS assesses healthcare provider orientations toward low back pain with two subscales: biomedical and behavioral. In total, 400 primary care physicians working in the Riyadh region of Saudi Arabia were invited to participate.Results: The responding primary care physicians (n = 72, response rate = 18%) provided an average score on the behavioral subscale (mean = 31.5± 7.1) that was lower than that on the biomedical subscale (36.5± 7.8) of the PABS. The lower scores in the biomedical subscale are associated with the using of clinical guidelines for low back pain management (χ2 (1) = 4.7, p = 0.03). Moreover, providing guideline-based advices regarding activity and work was more likely to come from those scoring above the mean in the behavioral subscale.Conclusion: The results of this study show that Saudi Arabian primary care physicians manage their patients within a biomedical framework; there is some compliance to the current low back pain clinical guidelines among these physicians, with under/post-graduate education being needed for these professionals to adopt a more biopsychosocial framework during low back pain management.Keywords: low back pain, attitude, behavior, primary care physician, biomedical management, biopsychosocial management, primary care, guidelines adherence, pain, healthcare professional
