title: Effectiveness of a standardized back school program for patients with chronic low back pain after implementation in routine rehabilitation care.
abstract: To evaluate the effectiveness of a standardized, patient-oriented, biopsychosocial back school after implementation in inpatient orthopedic rehabilitation.
  
  
  
  A multi-center, quasi-experimental controlled study of patients with low back pain (n=535) was conducted. Patients in the control group received the traditional back school before implementation of the new program (usual care); patients in the intervention group received the new standardized back school after implementation into routine care. Patients' illness knowledge and conduct of back exercises (primary outcomes) and secondary self-management outcomes and treatment satisfaction were obtained at admission, discharge, and 6 and 12 months after rehabilitation.
  
  
  
  We found a significant small between-group intervention effect on patients' illness knowledge in medium- to long term (6 months: η2=0.015; 12 months: η2=0.013). There were trends for effects on conduct of back exercises among men (6 and 12 months: η2=0.008 both). Furthermore, significant small effects were observed for treatment satisfaction at discharge and physical activity after 6 months.
  
  
  
  The standardized back school seems to be more effective in certain outcomes than a usual care program despite heterogeneous program implementation.
  
  
  
  Further dissemination within orthopedic rehabilitation may be encouraged to foster self-management outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Psychology, Medical Sociology, and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany. Electronic address: k.meng@uni-wuerzburg.de.
authors.forename: Karin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Psychology, Medical Sociology, and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Peters
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Psychology, Medical Sociology, and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Hermann
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Faller
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D015397:Program Evaluation; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: Chronic back pain; Controlled trial; Implementation effectiveness; Patient education; Rehabilitation