Knowledge and practices of family medicine residents working in Turkey about low back pain

AIM: The objective of this study is to evaluate the knowledge and practices of family medicine residents working in Turkey about low back pain. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This research was carried out between 04.08.2022 and 08.11.2022. It is a cross-sectional, descriptive survey study conducted with family medicine residents in Turkey who volunteered to participate in this study. An online questionnaire was applied to the physicians. All statistical analysis were performed using IBM SPSS version 25.0 and the statistical significance level was accepted as p<0.05. RESULTS: 345 residents, 225 of whom were male (65.2%), participated in the study. The mean low back pain knowledge score of the physicians was 31.4±4.83. The physicians' mean self-efficacy score in the management of patients with low back pain was found to be 6.43±1.58. A positive statistically significant correlation was found between the physicians' feeling of self-efficacy in the management of patients with low back pain and their knowledge score (p=0.002). When the physicians' knowledge scores were compared according to the years of employment in the profession, the duration of their assistantships, the places where they received their most comprehensive training on low back pain, the frequency of encountering a patient with low back pain in their polyclinics, whether they worked in the Family Health Centers (FHC) during their speciality training, no significant difference was found ( p>0.05). When the physicians were compared according to whether they received Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PMR) rotation during their residency training, the knowledge score of the physicians who received PMR rotation was found to be higher than those who did not (p=0.012). 46.7% of the physicians did not prefer to recommend traditional and complementary medicine practices to their patients. In the multi-answer question in which the exercise recommendation method was questioned, 80.3% of the physicians preferred to refer their patients to the PMR physician, 55.4% preferred to give patients illustrated brochures, and 22.9% preferred to show the exercises themselves. Medical treatment preferences of physicians were mostly Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAID) and topical drugs. The frequency of opting for opioids was low. CONCLUSIONS: The physicians' experience with the relevant patient group did not have any effect on the knowledge score. It was observed that performing PMR rotation increased the knowledge of low back pain. It was recommended to improve the training provided for the physicians about low back pain as an attempt to facilitate the management of patients with low back pain. Keywords: family physician, low back pain, knowledge, practice