Alberta Back Care Pathway (ABCp)

Recruiting now · Phase 2

Conditions studied: Low Back Pain

In brief

Every year, the pain, disability, addiction, and expense associated with LBP increase in Alberta. This escalation is largely because most people with LBP seek care from family physicians who are unable to provide effective, guideline-based interventions due to three recognized barriers: 1) a lack of training, 2) a lack of no (or low) cost access to these interventions and 3) a lack of physician time and reimbursement to deliver these interventions. As a result, most LBP care provided in Alberta is "low-value". With input from Alberta patients, healthcare providers, administrators and international scientists, the Alberta Back Carepathway (ABCp) was designed to overcome these barriers by giving family physicians a common, guideline-based approach to coordinate, assess and manage LBP patients in day-to-day practice. The ABCp trains family physicians to quickly and easily place patients into 5 categories each having evidence-based interventions that can be provided by physicians at no or low cost to patients and no net cost to the healthcare system. By designing the ABCp to resolve barriers related to training, access and delivery, the ABCp will "pull" rather than "prod" patients and clinicians toward sustained, long-term implementation of this cost-effective solution. This study is based on a multi-clinic, controlled, non-randomized stepped-wedge study designed for urban and rural primary care networks (PCNs). The primary outcome will be decreased healthcare resource utilization with secondary improvements in quality of life and opioid consumption. Overall, the savings realized through ABCp will create a self-sustaining, scalable solution for LBP care in Alberta.

Key facts

Study ID: NCT05452876
Run by: University of Alberta
People needed: 240
Starts: 2021-03-31
Expected to finish: 2027-12-17
Last updated by the study team: 2025-08-29

Who can join

Age: 18 and older. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: accepted.

You may qualify if…

Licensed physicians in the Edmonton West Primary Care Network (EWPCN) and the Calgary Chronic Pain Centre (CPC)
Age ≥18 years; (no upper age limit)
English speaking and a resident of Alberta who have cognition and language sufficient to understand written information, and to provide consent.
Cauda equina syndrome or infection, fracture
Single or multiple items such as age over 70, female, significant trauma, and prolonged corticosteroid use)
Cancer (single or multiple items such as older age, and previous history of cancer)
For the CPC site specifically: additional requirement of depression and anxiety as rated using the PHQ4 exclusion will include score of 3 or greater on the first two questions combined and/or score of 3 or greater on the third and 4th question combined

You may not qualify if…

Low back pain is caused by a recent motor vehicle accident
WCB case
Any known contraindication to exercise (i.e., unstable angina, uncontrolled arrhythmia, severe aortic stenosis).
Current participation in a supervised exercise or rehabilitation program or enrolled in another interventional clinical trial.
Plans for, or undergoing, surgery that would involve the spine directly or indirectly or place them into a position where any of the interventions in this trial would be contraindicated as a result of the surgery.

Where it is running

University of Alberta — Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (enrolling)

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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