A quarter of patients with low back pain (LBP) seeking primary care and a third of those seeking emergency care underwent some form of imaging examination.

During the study period (1995 to 2015), there were no major changes in the proportion of patients undergoing simple imaging examinations. However, the proportion of patients undergoing complex imaging increased over 50% (from 7.4 to 11.4%), despite the growing evidence and sources of education about the overuse and overreliance of imaging modalities for LBP.

These are the findings of an Australian research group that conducted a large systematic review with meta-analysis on this topic.