Hospital referrals for low back pain: more coherence needed

Low back pain is a common reason for hospital referral but little is known of the resulting workload in different specialties, All new outpatient atte ndances for conditions with low back pain were recorded over one month in a teaching hospital and a district general hospital. The patients were seen in at least ten specialties and two-fifths of them h ad been seen previously with the same symptom in another department. In the two hospitals, low back pain accounted for 15% and 12% of all new outpatie nt attendances. A more coherent referral policy is needed.