The assessment of the prognosis of musculoskeletal conditions in older adults presenting to general practice: a research protocol.
BACKGROUND
Musculoskeletal conditions represent a common reason for consulting general practice yet with the exception of low back pain, relatively little is known about the prognosis of these disorders. Recent evidence suggests that common 'generic' factors may be of value when assessing prognosis, irrespective of the location of the pain. This study will test a generic assessment tool used as part of the general practice consultation to determine prognosis of musculoskeletal complaints.


METHODS
Older adults (aged 50 years and over) presenting to six general practices with musculoskeletal complaints will be assessed as part of the routine consultation using a generic assessment of prognosis. Participants will receive a self-completion questionnaire at baseline, three, six and 12 months post consultation to gather further data on pain, disability and psychological status. The primary outcome measure is participant's global rating of change.


CONCLUSIONS
Prognosis is considered to be a fundamental component of scientific medicine yet prognostic research in primary care settings is currently neglected and prognostic enquiry is disappearing from general medical textbooks. This study aims to address this issue by examining the use of generic prognostic factors in a general practice setting.
Mallen
Christian D
CD
Primary Care Musculoskeletal Research Centre, Keele University, UK. c.d.mallen@cphc.keele.ac.uk
Peat
George
G
Thomas
Elaine
E
Wathall
Simon
S
Whitehurst
Tracy
T
Clements
Charlotte
C
Bailey
Joanne
J
Gray
Jacqueline
J
Croft
Peter R
PR
D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D002985:Clinical Protocols / Q000592:standards*; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005194:Family Practice / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009140:Musculoskeletal Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D010146:Pain / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D059408:Pain Management; D018579:Patient Selection; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*