This is a medical text book aimed at all health care professionals who care for patients with back pain. It is a book for health professionals about the understanding and management of back pain. It has become established as one of the leading examples of a biopsychosocial approach to medicine. It sets out to challenge unsubstantiated beliefs regarding the best way to treat and manage back pain and to create an interdisciplinary debate on the subject. Patients and society are demanding more effective approaches to this huge problem. This requires a radical rethink among professionals about their individual contributions to the problem. This book is about the revolution that is taking place in this area.

• Gordon Waddell is the world authority on the topic of the back pain revolution.
• The content addresses huge problems of concern to many disciplines and governments.
• The unbiased, open-minded view looks at the issues and the evidence and invites the readers to consider, debate, and agree on the best course of action.
• Comprehensive coverage of all aspects of the problem offers both interventionist and conservative approaches to treatment, psychosocial issues, economic factors, patient education, and prevention.

1. The Problem
2. Diagnostic Triage
3. Pain and Disability
4. The History of Back Pain
5. The Size of the Problem
6. Risk Factors
7. The Clinical Course of Simple Backache
8. The Physical Basis of Simple Backache
9. Physical Impairment
10. Illness Behavior
11. Psychological Distress

By Gordon Waddell, DSc, MD, FRCS, Orthopedic Surgeon, Glasgow