Orange flags

Beliefs which increase the threat associated with back pain, which you, the GP, can influence.

Catastrophe

“the only thing that was going through my mind, is the seriousness of my disalignment [sic], of my back ... you get scared in the sense that you could damage your spinal cord, or anything, to such an extent that you might become paralysed”

67 YEAR OLD MALE WITH RECURRENT PAIN

Chronicity

“just seeing my friend who does have a chronic lower back problem, just not being able to sit comfortably, not being able to go on walks, that kind of a thing did flash through my mind when it happened, that it would really be awful if that happened to me as well”

36 YEAR OLD FEMALE WITH ACUTE PAIN

Consequences

“operations are the main ones that are scaring me at the moment ... Because I really don’t want to have an operation. Yeah. It’s really- I don’t want to do that”

29 YEAR OLD FEMALE WITH ACUTE PAIN