Most adults with acute low back pain can expect “substantial improvements” within six weeks of symptom onset, Australian researchers report.

But many patients, particularly those with persistent low back pain, will have ongoing pain and disability, which the University of SA–led team says highlights the need for better treatments.

“Identifying and escalating care in individuals with subacute low back pain who are recovering slowly could be a focus of intervention to reduce the likelihood of transition into persistent low back pain,” they wrote in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

Their review and meta-analysis included 95 studies and some 19,000 patients, with low back pain defined as acute (less than six weeks), subacute (6-12 weeks) or persistent (longer than 12 weeks).