Evaluating the effectiveness of patient tailored treatment for patients with non‐specific low back pain: A systematic review

Objective This systematic review summarizes the relevant literature on the effectiveness of tailored interventions in non‐specific low back pain (NSLBP). Methods The search strategy has been executed in December 2019 in the electronic databases PubMed, Web of Science and Embase. Study selection, data extraction and quality assessment were done independently by two authors. Results A total six eligible studies were identified. Five out of six articles used a classification system to subgroup patients. All active patient tailored interventions had similar or better results than the non‐patient tailored interventions, most importantly on pain (short‐ and mid‐term, not for long term follow‐up). Two motor control interventions revealed sustained or increased effects at 12 months follow‐up for disability. For cost‐effectiveness, medication use and work absenteeism, results were inconclusive. Global rating of change evaluation confirmed significant between‐group results at 10 weeks to 4 months follow‐up, but results were not maintained at 12‐month evaluation. Discussion & conclusion Our findings support the preliminary evidence for the use of patient tailored treatment for reductions in pain and disability. However, our results are of very low to moderate quality evidence and the observed effects strongly depend on the subgroups and the chosen interventions. More high‐quality RCT's with homogenous designs and larger sample sizes are needed.