RT @mcferraro_: What are the benefits and harms of antidepressants for low back pain and spine‐related leg pain?. Find out in our Cochrane….

Congratulations, Brishna! You deserved every one of your achievements and it was a pleasure to work with you throughout the process.

I am now five months into my new role with @NousGroup. Every day, I apply my research training as I work with leaders in the private, public and community sectors on issues that have a substantial positive influence on people’s lives.

I was fortunate to work on some incredible research with experts in the field of analgesic medicines for low back pain. You can read the major study from my thesis here, published in @bmj_latest:.

Thank you to the many people who supported me throughout my journey, especially my supervisors (@Pain_NeuRa, @Mattjones0203, @matthewbagg, and @NeilOConnell), colleagues, and family.

I am proud to announce that this week I officially passed my #PhD at @UNSWMedicine and @neuraustralia, which completes the journey I began in September 2019.

RT @ADHagstrom: 🚨 New from my team today at @UNSWMedicine in @SportsMedicineJ . Governing body resistance training guidelines exhibit sex b….

Congratulations, Yannick. I’m very proud of the quality of this work.

RT @bmj_latest: Despite nearly 60 years of research, there is still a lack of high certainty evidence on the effectiveness and safety of co….

And thank you to my collaborators for their efforts during this study: @mcferraro_, @AidanCashin, @rodrizzo_pain, @HayleyLeake, @ADHagstrom, @link_physio, @AndMacUSyd, @CGMMaher, @osbornidayius, Benedict Wand, @AdrianiNikol, @DrSMschabrun, and @SylviaGustin2.

Thank you!.I am incredibly thankful to my #phd supervisors for guiding me over the past 3.5 years: @pain_neura, @matthewbagg, @mattjones0203, and @NeilOConnell.

Unfortunately, included studies had concerns related to risk of bias which, alongside other limitations, probably influence the findings and lead to this lack of certainty. Risk of bias is a key area for improvement in future trials.

What do we think?.- After 60 years of trials, we still lack high certainty evidence for analgesic medicines for acute low back pain. We recommend, “clinicians and patients…take a cautious approach to manage acute non-specific low back pain with analgesic medicines.”

Safety:.- Moderate to very low confidence evidence for increased adverse events with four medicines compared to placebo. These medicines may also increase the risk of adverse events compared to other medicines.

Pain intensity:.- Low or very low confidence for the effects of most medicines compared to placebo, with effect sizes ranging from large to trivial. - Low or very low confidence that some medicines may be superior, but no significant differences between most medicines.

What did we find?.- We included 98 randomised controlled trials published between 1964 and 2021. - 15,134 participants aged 18 and over and 69 different medicines or combinations were examined.

What did we do?.- A #systematicreview of all RCTs of analgesic medicines in adults with acute non-specific low back pain. - A network meta-analysis to compare the effects of all these medicines or combinations of medicines. - Primary outcomes: pain intensity and safety.

Why did we do this this study?.- Medicines are the most common treatment for adults with acute low back pain. - Stakeholders want information about medicines compared to each other, but previous research has focused on only comparing medicines to placebo.

Out today in @bmj_latest. We found “considerable uncertainty” around the effectiveness and safety of analgesic medicines for adults with acute non-specific low back pain. Available at Thread 🧵

Congratulations on your publication, Jack!.