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Back Pain Resources

This section has information about back pain for patients, training opportunities and links to further evidence based tools for practice.

You can access these resources by scrolling down this page and selecting the resource you require from the buttons below.

Back Pain Videos

Meet patients with back pain in the following videos, hear their stories and how they have copied with their condition

Back Pain Leaflets

This leaflet was developed by patients, for patients, with academics and clinicians and Keele University.
It answers the most frequently asked questions about back pain.

So you have back pain

Back Pain Websites

It is well known that back pain can be a considerable problem for some people, with great costs to them individually and to society as a whole.

STarT Back is an approach which is carried out by your healthcare professional and matches patients to treatments using a simple tool to match patients to treatment packages appropriate for them.

  • Significantly decrease disability from back pain
  • Reduce time off work
  • Save money by making better use of health resources

Training Resources

Keele University Impact Accelerator Unit offers Free online training for clinicians around the STarT Back approach. You can access the training on the top right hand corner of the STarT Back website – STarT Back – Evidence Based Implementation of Stratified Care (keele.ac.uk)

Part 2 of this training is delivered face to face or over MS Teams at various times of the year. There is a cost associated with this part of the training. For more information, contact health.iau@keele.ac.uk

StartBack Videos

STarTBack Consultation Videos

StartBack Questionnaire

You can access the online version here

STarTBack questionnaire

Start Back Online Calculator

Keele STarT Back Screening Tool

Thinking about the last 2 weeks tick your response to the following questions:

Question Disagree Agree
1. My back pain has spread down my leg(s) at some time in the last 2 weeks
2. I have had pain in the shoulder or neck at some time in the last 2 weeks
3. I have only walked short distances because of my back pain
4. In the last 2 weeks, I have dressed more slowly than usual because of back pain
5. It's not really safe for a person with a condition like mine to be physically active
6. Worrying thoughts have been going through my mind a lot of the time
7. I feel that my back pain is terrible and it's never going to get any better
8. In general I have not enjoyed all the things I used to enjoy

9. Overall, how bothersome has your back pain been in the last 2 weeks?

















Total Score of:
SNOMED codes
3 or less suggest LOW RISK OF CHRONICITY
Concept ID: 945621000000107
Description ID: 2418721000000118
4 or more AND Subscore of 3 or less suggests MEDIUM RISK OF CHRONICITY
Concept ID: 45641000000100
Description ID: 2418731000000116
4 or more AND Subscore of 4 or more suggests HIGH RISK OF CHRONICITY
Concept ID: 45601000000103
Description ID: 2418711000000112

Start Back Tool Translations

STarT Back is available in many different languages. You can download these below.

Afrikaans.pdf

Arabic.pdf

Bangla.pdf

Brazilian-portuguese.pdf

Children-and-adolescents.pdf

Chilean-Spanish.pdf

Chinese-Traditional.pdf

Croatian.pdf

Danish.pdf

Dutch.pdf

Finnish.pdf

French.pdf

German.pdf

Greek.pdf

Hebrew.pdf

Hindi.pdf

Hungarian.pdf

Indonesian.pdf

isiZulu.pdf

Italian.pdf

Japanese.pdf

Korean.pdf

Nepali.pdf

Norwegian.pdf

Persian.pdf

Polish.pdf

Portuguese.pdf

Punjabi.pdf

Estonian.pdf

Russian.pdf

Spanish.pdf

Swahili.pdf

Swedish.pdf

Tamil.pdf

Thai.pdf

Turkish.pdf

Urdu.pdf

Welsh.pdf

Yoruba.pdf

Start Back Manual

Keele University Impact Accelerator Unit offers Free online training for clinicians around the STarT Back approach.
You can access the training on the top right hand corner of the STarT Back website –
STarT Back – Evidence Based Implementation of Stratified Care (keele.ac.uk)

Part 2 of this training is delivered face to face or over MS Teams at various times of the year. There is a cost associated with this part of the training. For more information, contact health.iau@keele.ac.uk

STarTBack Implementation manual

Start Back References

STarT Back Trial

  • Hill J, D Whitehurst, Lewis M, Bryan S, Dunn K, Foster N, Konstantinou, Main C, Mason E, Somerville S, Sowden G, Vohora K, Hay E. A randomised controlled trial and economic evaluation of stratified primary care management for low back pain compared with current best practice: The STarT Back trial.The Lancet, Volume 378, Issue 9802, Pages 1560 – 1571, 29 October 2011 link
  • E Hay, K Dunn, J Hill, M Lewis, E Mason, K Konstantinou, G Sowden, S Somerville, K Vohora, D Whitehurst and C Main. A randomised clinical trial of subgrouping and targeted treatment for low back pain compared with best current care. The STarT Back Trial Study Protocol . BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders April 2008, 9:58 link
  • Whitehurst DG, Bryan S, Lewis M, Hill J, Hay EM. Exploring the cost-utility of stratified primary care management for low back pain compared with current best practice within risk-defined subgroups. Ann Rheum Dis 2012; 71(11): 1796-802. link
  • Main C, Hill J, Sowden G and Watson P. Integrating physical and psychosocial approaches to treatment in low back pain. The development and content of the Keele STarT Back trial’s “high risk” intervention (StarTBack; ISRCTN 37113406). Physiotherapy 2011 link

IMPaCT study

  • Foster N, Mullis R, Hill J, Lewis M, Whitehurst D, Doyle C, Konstantinou K, Main C, Somerville S, Sowden G, Wathall S, Young J, Hay E. Effect of Stratified Care for Low Back Pain in Family Practice (IMPaCT Back): A Prospective Population-Based Sequential Comparison. Ann Fam Med March/April 2014 vol. 12 no. 2 102-111 link
  • Sowden G, Hill JC, Konstantinou K, Khanna M, Main C, Salmon P, Somerville S, Wathall S, Foster N. Subgrouping for targeted treatment in primary care for low back pain: the treatment system and clinical training programmes used in the IMPaCT Back study (ISRCTN 55174281) Family Practice 2011 link
  • Foster NE, Mullis R, Young J, Doyle C, Lewis M, Whitehurst D, Hay EM; IMPaCT Back Study team. IMPaCT Back study protocol. Implementation of subgrouping for targeted treatment systems for low back pain patients in primary care: a prospective population-based sequential comparison. BMC Musculoskeletal Discord 2010; 20(11): 186. link

STarT Back Tool

  • Hill JC, Dunn KM, Lewis M, Mullis R, Main CJ, Foster NE, et al. A primary care back pain screening tool: identifying patient subgroups for initial treatment. Arthritis Rheum 2008;59(5):632–41 link
  • Jonathan C. Hill *, Kate M. Dunn, Chris J. Main, Elaine M. Hay. Subgrouping low back pain: A comparison of the STarT Back Tool with the Örebro Musculoskeletal Pain Screening Questionnaire. Eur J. Pain 2009; doi:10.1016/j.ejpain.2009.01.003 link
  • Gusi N, Del Pozo-Cruz B, Olivares PR, Hernandez-Mocholi M, Hill JC. The Spanish version of the “STarT Back Screening Tool” (SBST) in different subgroups. Aten Primaria 2010 link
  • Hill et al. Comparing the STarT Back Screening Tool’s Subgroup Allocation of Individual Patients With That of Independent Clinical Experts. Clinical Journal of Pain: 2010 – Volume 26 – Issue 9 – pp 783-787 link
  • Morsø L, Albert H, Kent P, Manniche C, Hill J. Translation and discriminative validation of the STarT Back Screening Tool into Danish. Eur Spine J. 2011 Dec;20(12):2166-73. Epub 2011 Jul 19. link
  • Olivier Bruyere, Maryline Demoulin, Clara Brereton, Fabienne Humblet, Daniel Flynn, Jonathan C Hill, Didier Maquet, Julien Van Beveren, Jean-Yves Reginster, Jean-Michel Crielaard and Christophe Demoulin. Translation validation of a new back pain screening questionnaire (the STarT Back Screening Tool) in FrenchArchives of Public Health, 70:12 (07 Jun 2012) link
  • Nadine E Foster, Johannes R Anema, Dan Cherkin, Roger Chou, Steven P Cohen, Douglas P Gorss, Paulo H Ferreria, Julie M Fritz, Bart W Koes, Wilco Peul, Judith A Turner, Chris G Maher. Prevention and treatment of low back pain: evidence, challenges, and promising directions. The Lancet. Link

Stratified Care

  • Hill J, Try F, Agnew G, Saywell N. Perspectives and experiences of physiotherapists and general practitioners in the use of the STarT Back Tool: a review and meta-synthesis. J Prim Health Care. 2022 Jun;14(2):164-172. doi: 10.1071/HC21069 PMID: 35771704.
  • Croft P, Hill JC, Foster NE, Dunn KM, van der Windt DA. Stratified health care for low back pain using the STarT Back approach: Holy Grail or doomed to fail? Pain. 2024 Jul 18. doi: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000003319. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39037849.
  • Ogbeivor C, Elsabbagh L. Management approach combining prognostic screening and targeted treatment for patients with low back pain compared with standard physiotherapy: A systematic review & meta‐analysis. Musculoskeletal Care, 2021 link
  • Hill JC. The early identification of patients with complex back pain problems. The Back Care Journal. Spring 2010. link
  • Hill JC, Fritz JM. Psychosocial influences on low back pain, disability, and response to treatment. Phys Ther. 2011;91:712–721 link
  • Fritz JM, Beneciuk JM, George SZ. Relationship between categorization with the STarT Back Screening Tool and prognosis for people receiving physical therapy for low back pain. Phys Ther. 2011;91:722–732 link
  • Alice Kongsted, Else Johannesen and Charlotte Leboeuf-Yde. Feasibility of the STarT back screening tool in chiropractic clinics: a cross-sectional study of patients with low back pain. Chiropractic & Manual Therapies 2011, 19:10 doi:10.1186/2045-709X-19-10 link
  • Fritz JM, Beneciuk JM, George SZ. Relationship between categorization with the STarT Back Screening Tool and prognosis for people receiving physical therapy for low back pain. Phys Ther 2011;91:722–732. link
  • del Pozo-Cruz B, Parraca JA, del Pozo-Cruz J, Adsuar JC, Hill JC, Gusi N. 2012. An occupational, internet-based intervention to prevent chronicity in sub-acute lower back pain: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine. vol. 44(7), 581-587. link
  • Hill JC, Foster NE, Hay EM. 2010. Cognitive behavioural therapy shown to be an effective and low cost treatment for subacute and chronic low-back pain, improving pain and disability scores in a pragmatic RCT. Evid Based Med, vol. 15(4), 118-119. link
  • Field J, Newell D. Relationship between STarT Back Screening Tool and prognosis for low back pain patients receiving spinal manipulative therapy. Chiropr Man Therap. 2012 Jun 12;20(1):17. link
  • Beneciuk JM, Bishop MD, Fritz JM, Robinson ME, Asal NR, Nisenzon AN, George SZ. The STarT Back Screening Tool and Individual Psychological Measures: Evaluation of Prognostic Capabilities for Low Back Pain Clinical Outcomes in Outpatient Physical Therapy Settings. Phys Ther. 2012 Nov 2. link
  • Wideman TH, Hill JC, Main CJ, Lewis M, Sullivan MJ, Hay EM. Comparing the responsiveness of a brief, multidimensional risk screening tool for back pain to its unidimensional reference standards: The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Pain. 2012 Nov;153(11):2182-91. link
  • N Foster & A Delitto. Embedding Psychosocial Perspectives Within Clinical Management of Low Back Pain: Integration of Psychosocial Informed Management Principles into Physical Therapist Practice – Challenges and Opportunities. Physical Therapy 2011. link
  • Kongsted A, Johannesen E, Leboeuf-Yde C. Feasibility of the STarT Back Screening Tool in chiropractic clinics: A cross-sectional study of patients with low back pain. Chiropr Man Therap. 2011;19(1):10. link
  • C Main & S George. Psychologically informed practice for management of low back pain: future directions in practice and research. Physical Therapy 2011. link

References to High Risk Matched Treatment STarTBack Online course

 

  1. Nicholas MK, George SZ. Psychologically Informed Interventions for Low Back Pain: An Update for Physical Therapists. Phys Ther. 2011;
  2. Hay EM, Mullis R, Lewis M, Vohora K, Main CJ, Watson P, et al. Comparison of physical treatments versus a brief pain-management programme for back pain in primary care: A randomised clinical trial in physiotherapy practice. Lancet. 2005;
  3. Hill JC, Whitehurst DGT, Lewis M, Bryan S, Dunn KM, Foster NE, et al. Comparison of stratified primary care management for low back pain with current best practice (STarT Back): A randomised controlled trial. Lancet. 2011;
  4. Williams DA, Thorn BE. An empirical assessment of pain beliefs. Pain. 1989;
  5. G W. The back pain Revolution. 2nd ed. Edinburg: Churchill Livingstone; 2004.
  6. Foster NE, Thomas E, Bishop A, Dunn KM, Main CJ. Distinctiveness of psychological obstacles to recovery in low back pain patients in primary care. Pain. 2010;
  7. Vlaeyen JWS, Linton SJ. Fear-avoidance and its consequences in chronic musculoskeletal pain: A state of the art. Pain. 2000.
  8. Young Casey C, Greenberg MA, Nicassio PM, Harpin RE, Hubbard D. Transition from acute to chronic pain and disability: A model including cognitive, affective, and trauma factors. Pain. 2008;
  9. de Raaij EJ, Ostelo RW, Maissan F, Mollema J, Wittink H. The Association of Illness Perception and Prognosis for Pain and Physical Function in Patients With Noncancer Musculoskeletal Pain: A Systematic Literature Review. J Orthop Sport Phys Ther. 2018;
  10. Newman MG; Borkovec MT. Cognitive behavioural therapy for worry and generalised anxiety disorder. In: Simos G, editor. Cognitive behaviour therapy: A guide for the practising clinician. Taylor & Francis; 2002.
  11. Sullivan MJL, Thorn B, Haythornthwaite JA, Keefe F, Martin M, Bradley LA, et al. Theoretical perspectives on the relation between catastrophizing and pain. Clin J Pain. 2001;
  12. Quartana PJ, Campbell CM, Edwards RR. Pain catastrophizing a critical review. Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics. 2009.
  13. Vlaeyen JWS, Linton SJ. Fear-avoidance model of chronic musculoskeletal pain: 12 years on. Pain. 2012.
  14. Vlaeyen JWS, Crombez G, Linton SJ. The fear-avoidance model of pain. Pain. 2016;
  15. Crombez G, Eccleston C, Van Damme S, Vlaeyen JWS, Karoly P. Fear-Avoidance Model of Chronic Pain. Clin J Pain. 2012;
  16. Pincus T, Smeets RJEM, Simmonds MJ, Sullivan MJL. The fear avoidance model disentangled: Improving the clinical utility of the fear avoidance model. Clinical Journal of Pain. 2010.
  17. Leeuw M, Elle M, Goossens EJB, Linton SJ, Crombez G, Boersma K, et al. The Fear-Avoidance Model of Musculoskeletal Pain: Current State of Scientific Evidence. J Behav Med. 2007;
  18. Moseley GL, Butler DS. Fifteen Years of Explaining Pain: The Past, Present, and Future. J Pain. 2015;
  19. Louw A, Diener I, Butler DS, Puentedura EJ. The effect of neuroscience education on pain, disability, anxiety, and stress in chronic musculoskeletal pain. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. 2011.
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  21. Bandura A. Cambridge handbook of psychology, health and medicine. In: A. Baum, S. Newman, J. Wienman, R. West & CM, editor. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.; 1997. p. 160–2.
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  23. McAuley E, Jerome GJ, Marquez DX, Elavsky S, Blissmer B. Exercise self-efficacy in older adults: Social, affective, and behavioral influences. Ann Behav Med. 2003;
  24. Ruben, Mollie A. Jodoin, Adriana N. Hall, Judith A. Blanch-Hartigan D. The impact of acute pain self-efficacy on pain intensity and the accurate recall of pain. JoHealth Psychol Rep. 2018;6(2):136–45.
  25. Nicholas MK. The pain self-efficacy questionnaire: Taking pain into account. Eur J Pain. 2007;
  26. Daykin AR, Richardson B. Physiotherapists’ Pain Beliefs and Their Influence on the Management of Patients with Chronic Low Back Pain. Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2004;
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  37. Sowden G, Hill JC, Konstantinou K, Khanna M, Main CJ, Salmon P, et al. Targeted treatment in primary care for low back pain: The treatment system and clinical training programmes used in the impact back study (ISRCTN 55174281). Fam Pract. 2012;
  38. Main CJ, Sowden G, Hill JC, Watson PJ, Hay EM. Integrating physical and psychological approaches to treatment in low back pain: The development and content of the STarT Back trial’s “high-risk” intervention (StarT Back; ISRCTN 37113406). Physiotherapy. 2012;

Return on Investment

A report by Public Health England determined that there is an estimated net saving of £21.07 per patient when implementing the intervention and a positive ROI from a healthcare financial perspective of £10.58 for every £1 spent on the intervention.
When QALY gains are included, this increases to an estimated return of £90.92for every £1 spent and when days of work saved are also included, this increases to an estimated £226.23for every £1 spent.

You can read and download the full report here:

Return on Investment