Study Design, Setting, and Participants
cancer, fracture, low back pain, infection
CANCER, AIDS, INFECTION, CAUDA EQUINA SYNDROME
The trial was approved by the Norwegian Medicines Agency and the regional ethics committee in Norway. The trial protocol (We recruited adults 18 years or older with neck and/or low back pain who had been referred and accepted to the multidisciplinary outpatient clinic for back, neck, and shoulder rehabilitation at St. Olav’s Hospital in Trondheim, Norway. Inclusion criteria included owning a smartphone (iOS or Android operating system) with internet access and a working email address. Exclusion criteria included warning signs indicating possible cancer, fracture, cauda equina syndrome, infection, or other conditions prioritized for urgent treatment or examination; inability to take part in exercise or physical activity (eg, nonambulatory status, use of walking aids, and inability to get up and down from the floor independently); inability to speak and/or read the Norwegian language; or enrollment in the ongoing SELFBACK trial in the primary care setting.All patients with neck and/or low back pain who were referred to and accepted on a waiting list for the outpatient clinic between July 9, 2020, and April 29, 2021, were invited to participate. Administrative staff at the clinic identified potential participants based on the information available at referral. Potential participants were sent an invitation text message with a link to a registration form containing information about the trial, eligibility questions, and a digital consent form. Patients who consented and fulfilled the eligibility criteria were invited by email to complete the online baseline questionnaire. Those unable or unwilling to complete the baseline questionnaire were excluded from the study. Of 377 patients assessed for eligibility, 76 did not complete the baseline questionnaire, and 7 did not meet the eligibility criteria; the remaining 294 patients were included in the study.