Back musculoskeletal complaint is one of the most common orthopaedic conditions seen at specialist clinics and is one of the commonest health reasons given for work loss. Among working adults, 60-80% have experienced low back pain (LBP) at some time, and it is often persistent or recurrent. Physical demands of work (manual materials handling, lifting, bending, twisting, and whole-body vibration) can be associated with increased back symptoms, aggravation of symptoms and ‘injuries’. Despite LBP being one of the most common orthopaedic problems, the general knowledge of the different pathologies and physical therapies remains poor. There are several important issues compromising the musculoskeletal health of the population in Hong Kong that can be addressed by the proposed project.

Physical therapy is one of the major components for the management of orthopaedic conditions. It is well-recognized that physical exercise is effective in relieving back pain and constitutes an important part of rehabilitations. In recent years, online platforms have exponentially increased their popularities across age groups and can provide valuable healthcare-related information. With the additional of selective back pain-related questionnaires, at-risk users can be identified for potential intervention. With an online platform providing evidence-based information on LBP and physical therapies, public will better understand the treatment options, leading to potential symptomatic relief during the 3 years wait for an orthopaedic specialist out-patient clinic appointment. If improvement of symptoms is significant, this can reduce the number of patients needing specialist review thus leading to a shorter waiting time. This platform will also familiarise the spine patients with rehabilitation program and thus improve the surgical outcome.

The online platform will raise awareness on lower back pain, providing healthcare related information and a self-manageable  home-based exercise program. Participants will gain better understanding of the back pain symptoms and the respective physical therapies. This can reduce the service burden of the strained medical and physiotherapy system, while with regular questionnaires for monitoring for any poor compliance/ deterioration/severe cases for early interventions.

• Patients after spine surgeries at Prince of Wales Hospital (PWH) — 200


• Patients on the waiting list for spine surgeries at PWH — 500


• Population with back pain in the community— 1000-2000

2023

Healthcare, Well-being