A systematic review including 13 studies (9 RCTs) with a total of 2 052 subjects was abstracted in DARE.
Of the 13 studies only 6 were found to be sufficiently well-designed to be discussed. Of the 4 studies which focused on chronic back pain subjects, one found a positive short-term effect on pain intensity. In the 2 studies with acute cases group education was found by 1 study to reduce pain duration and initial sick leave duration in the short-term. However, the intervention also included work-site visits. The 6 studies provided no evidence of benefit for group education on any of the long-term outcome measures.
Comment: The quality of evidence is downgraded by study limitations and inconsistency of results.