Attitudes and Beliefs of Primary Care Physicians Working in Saudi Arabia Regarding the Management of Low Back Pain: A Cross-Sectional Study

Figures & data

Table 1 Participants’ Demographic Data

		Frequency	Percent (Out of 72)
Age (years)	25–30	11	15.3
	31–35	20	27.8
	36–40	16	22.2
	41–45	7	9.7
	46–50	5	6.9
	More than 50	13	18.1
Gender	Male	39	54.2
	Female	33	45.8
Experience (years)	Less than 2 years	9	12.5
	2–5	17	23.6
	6–10	18	25.0
	11–15	9	12.5
	16–20	8	11.1
	More than 20 years	11	15.3
Region	Riyadh City	64	88.9
	Central region but out of Riyadh City	8	11.1
Nationality	Saudi	31	43.1
	Sudanese	14	19.4
	Egyptian	14	19.4
	Other nationalities (Yemen, Palestine, Syrian, Canada, Pakistan, Cuban, Indian)	13	18.1
Current qualification	General practitioner	45	62.5
	Family Medicine	21	29.2
	Other (Internal Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynecology, General Surgeon Residence, Dentist)	6	8.3
LBP cases per week	0	3	4.2
	1–5	47	65.3
	6–10	16	22.2
	11–15	4	5.6
	More than 15	2	2.8

Abbreviation: LBP, Lower back pain.

Figure 1 (A–D) Management recommendation. (A) LBP type, (B) work advice, (C) activity advice, (D) imaging recommendation.

Figure 2 Treatment preferences (participants may select more than one option).

Figure 3 Further management.

Table 2 Demographic Data of Participants Who Completed the PABS

		Frequency	Percent (Out of 39)
Age (years)	25–30	6	54.5%
	31–35	12	60.0%
	36–40	6	37.5%
	41–45	5	71.4%
	46–50	1	20.0%
	More than 50	8	61.5%
Gender	Male	23	59.0%
	Female	15	45.5%
Experience (years)	Less than 2 years	6	66.7%
	2–5	12	70.6%
	6–10	8	44.4%
	11–15	1	11.1%
	16–20	3	37.5%
	More than 20 years	8	72.7%
Current qualification	General Practitioner	25	55.6%
	Family Medicine	10	47.6%
	Internal Medicine	1	50.0%
	Obstetrics and Gynecology	2	100.0%

Abbreviation: PABS, Pain Attitudes and Beliefs Scale.

Table 3 Descriptive Data of the PABS Subscale

	N	Range	Mean	Std. Deviation	Median	IQR
PABS Behavioral subscale	39	9–44	31.5	7.2	Normally distributed (using mean and SD)
PABS Biomedical subscale	39	10–52	36.5	7.8	37.5	9

Abbreviations: PABS, Pain Attitudes and Beliefs Scale; SD, standard deviation; IQR, interquartile range.