Welcome to Spinal Columns, the official audio newsletter from CANSpine. In this issue, we’re looking at what prevents older adults with back pain from accessing rehabilitation, what satisfies patients about advanced physiotherapy, and the connection between back pain and sleep.

Many older adults with low back pain experience challenges when trying to get the care they need. To better understand these issues, a study investigated the structural barriers and facilitators that affect access to rehabilitation for adults aged 50 and older. In this scoping review of existing literature, Jessica Wong sought to synthesize what is already known about this problem.

Advanced practice physiotherapy is becoming a more common model of care in healthcare systems around the world. With this shift, there is a need to evaluate how satisfied patients are with this type of service on an international scale. To do this, a systematic mixed studies review was conducted by Alison Rushton, who analyzed studies from multiple databases and the grey literature that measured patient satisfaction.

Poor sleep quality is a significant health concern for older adults, and low back pain is often considered a potential cause. To synthesize the evidence on this connection, researchers looked for studies specifically on low back pain and sleep quality among adults aged 60 and over. In a systematic review of four scientific databases, Jessica Wong investigated the association between these two common conditions.

That’s all for this edition of the Spinal Columns audio digest. To learn more about these studies, we encourage you to read the full issue of our newsletter on the CANSpine website. Be sure to subscribe to receive future updates.