Cremin M C, Finn A M
Abbey House Medical Centre, Navan, Co Meath.
Ir Med J. 2002 May;95(5):141-2.
The aim of this survey was to investigate how general practitioners (GPs) manage their back pain patients and if they refer them for physiotherapy. The research instrument was a self-administered postal questionnaire. This was sent to 580 GPs, one quarter of the GPs in the Republic of Ireland. Two hundred and ninety three questionnaires (n=293)were returned, which constituted a 50.5% response rate. Two hundred and sixty one questionnaires (n=261) were usable. The main findings of the study were that the respondents consider that physiotherapy has a major role in the management of back pain. However there was limited availability of physiotherapy for the GPs' public patients. One hundred and thirteen GPs (over 43% of respondents) have referred back pain patients to alternative practitioners for manipulation. One hundred and forty four respondents (52%) believe that physiotherapists should not treat back pain patients without the patient first consulting their doctor.
本次调查的目的是研究全科医生（GPs）如何管理他们的背痛患者，以及他们是否会将患者转介接受物理治疗。研究工具是一份自填式邮政问卷。该问卷被寄给了爱尔兰共和国580名全科医生，占该国全科医生总数的四分之一。共收回293份问卷（n = 293），回复率为50.5%。其中261份问卷（n = 261）可用。该研究的主要发现是，受访者认为物理治疗在背痛管理中起着重要作用。然而，全科医生的公费患者接受物理治疗的机会有限。113名全科医生（超过43%的受访者）已将背痛患者转介给替代疗法从业者进行手法治疗。144名受访者（52%）认为，物理治疗师在患者未先咨询医生的情况下不应治疗背痛患者。
