The Red and Yellow Flag Awareness Level of Family Physicians in Low Back Pain

Abstract

Aim: This study aims to determine the level of attitude and awareness of family physicians about red and yellow flags in patients with low back pain. Methods: A total of 395 family physicians were included in the study between February 2022 and April 2022. A questionnaire that evaluates the physicians’ non-mechanical causes of low back pain, red flag symptoms and findings, yellow flag signs, and the rate of questioning them in clinical practice was created and used. Results: Although 70.1% of the participants specified cauda equina symptoms, 65.3% non-mechanical nature of pain, 63.5% systemic illness findings, 62.5% history of severe trauma and malignancy as red flag symptoms and findings, 71.1% the presence of catastrophic thoughts as a yellow flag sign in low back pain, they could not achieve the same success in other red and yellow flag signs. The rate of questioning red and yellow flags in patients who applied to family physicians with low back pain was 60.7% and 34.5%, respectively. Conclusion: The results of our study show that family physicians have a deficiency in questioning the red and yellow flags. When it is considered that patients with low back pain consult family physicians frequently, we think that training family physicians on red and yellow flags may help to the quick determination of non-mechanical causes of low back pain and to prevent low back pain from becoming chronic.