Mapping Guideline-informed Care for Chronic Non-specific Low Back Pain with the Biopsychosocial Approach: A Rapid Review

Background: Current evidence favors a multidisciplinary biopsychosocial approach to the management of chronic non-specific low back pain (CLBP). However, it is unclear whether such an approach is facilitated by current clinical guidelines. This rapid review set out to examine the extent to which clinical guideline recommendations for managing CLBP address domains of the biopsychosocial approach.

Methods: MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, and the gray literature were searched for any clinical guidelines targeting the management of CLBP, published within the last 6 years. Title/abstract and full-text screening were undertaken by two reviewers using the accelerated approach. Data extraction and critical appraisal were completed by two reviewers, independently. Extracted data were synthesized in narrative form.

Results: Fifteen guidelines met the review inclusion criteria. One-half of the guidelines were considered to be of medium quality. All guidelines provided management recommendations addressing the biological domain of the biopsychosocial approach; 13 (87%) guidelines reported recommendations addressing the psychological domain, and 8 (53%) guidelines presented recommendations addressing the social domain. Only 53% (8/15) of guidelines reported recommendations addressing all three domains of the biopsychosocial approach. Guideline recommendations both across and within the biopsychosocial domains were varied and inconsistent.

Conclusions: The CLBP clinical guidelines included in this review provided detailed guidance on the biological domain, yet limited attention and detail were afforded to the psychological and social domains. Several recommendations are presented on how to improve the quality of future CLBP guidelines, and to help foster the provision of a biopsychosocial approach to CLBP management.