Classification of problems, clinical findings and treatment goals in patients with low back pain using the ICIDH-2 beta-2.
OBJECTIVE
This study aimed to explore problems, clinical findings and treatment goals presented by patients with low back pain and their physiotherapists, and to which extent this information could be classified according to the ICIDH-2 Beta-2.


METHODS
An explorative field trial of 12 physiotherapists and 28 patients with low back pain in outpatient practices.


RESULTS
Pain and impairments related to muscles, joints and structures of the lower back, pelvis and hips were most often presented. Functioning related to daily activities and participation in society was often described in the treatment goals, but vaguely formulated. Most of the problems and clinical findings could be classified according to the ICIDH-2 Beta-2. However, several treatment goals could not be classified.


CONCLUSIONS
There was a lack of specification in several of the detailed codes of the Body, Function and Structure Dimension, particularly regarding classification of pain and muscle functions. The main limitation concerned the detailed version of the Body Function and Structure Dimension, which provided no additional precision compared with the short version when classifying pain and other impairments. However, the ICIDH-2 offers a tool to enhance the precision of clinical findings and the possibilities for performing a multidimensional evaluation of functioning related to patients with low back pain.
Soukup
M G
MG
Section for Health Science, University of Oslo, Norway. m.g.soukup@helsefag.uio.no
Vøllestad
N K
NK
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000145:classification / Q000209:etiology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged