Authors

1Jenny de la Torre Aboki.2Francisca Sivera Mascaró

Position

¹Enfermera. Sección de Reumatología. Hospital General Universitario de Alicante. ²Licenciada en Medicina y Cirugía. Especialista del área de Reumatología en el Hospital de Elda, Alicante.

Contact address

Sección de Reumatología. Hospital General Universitario de Alicante. C/ Pintor Baeza, s/n. 03010 Alicante.

Contact email: delatorre_jen@gua.es

Abstract

Lumbalgia is pain located in the lower back region. It is the second most frequent cause of general medicine consultation. In Spain, the prevalence of lumbalgia is 14,8% and during a 6-month period the probability of experiencing at least one episode of lumbalgia is 44,8%. The term lumbalgia refers to a symptom and not a disease, given that lower back pain can be a result of several causes. Most patients experience improvement during the first 4 weeks, with or without medical treatment. Nursing care in this pathology can be very important to facilitate self-care and effective coping of the disease and should be focused on structured health education programs aimed specifically at these patients.
This article, the fifth in a series concerning nursing care in rheumatology, discusses lumbalgia, covering its main characteristics, its clinical manifestation and patient management.

Keywords:

rheumatological nursing; lumbalgia; health educationcare plan

Versión en Español

Título:

Lumbalgia