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X-rays are a poor indicator of back pain disability in middle-aged women

Publicly released:
Australia; NSW

X-rays are not a great way to measure likely back pain–related disability, say Australian researchers, after their study of middle-aged women showed spine changes visible on an X-ray, such as a narrowing of the disc space, had no link to back pain–related disability. The authors say this supports the urge to reduce unnecessary imaging referrals.

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Research JAMA, Web page Please link to the article in online versions of your report
Journal/
conference: JAMA Network Open
Research:Paper
Organisation/s: The University of Sydney
Funder: Arthritis Research UK (now Versus Arthritis) and the Oxford NIHR Musculoskeletal Biomedical Research Unit provided funding support to the study.
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