Objectives. This study aimed to determine the predictors of short-term outcome of low back pain (LBP) in a cohort of LBP patients. Subjects and Methods. A prospective cohort of 400 LBP patients who attending the health insurance clinics at Al-Hussinia city, Sharakia governorate, Egypt, were the subjects of this study. The data were collected by using a predesigned questionnaire at the index consultation. The outcome variable (good versus bad outcome), in terms of return to work, was collected one/two weeks later on the next consultation or by telephone. Statistical analyses including predictive regression analysis was done. Results. Out of the analysed 349 patients, there have been 202 patients (58%) with good back pain outcome. Logistic regression analyses showed that the factors most significantly associated with good back pain outcome were the recency of pain (OR = 4.85; 95% CI = 2.88–8.17), patient's occupation (OR = 2.11; 95% CI = 1.33–3.35) and absence of obesity (OR = 2.70; 95% CI = 1.15–5.22). Other significant less important factors were age of the patient, and site of pain. Conclusions. Reliable information on back pain related history, patient's occupation, body mass index and age of the patient at the index consultation are important to assess short-term prognosis in LBP patients. 1. Introduction Low back pain (LBP) is a common public health problem, especially in Western Europe and North America. In these countries, low back pain is one of the most common reasons for consulting a primary care physician [1]. Most of LBP patients, particularly those in their first episodes, recover within a short period of time and return back to their regular work [2]. Prediction of factors associated with good outcome LBP patients would help physician to pick up those with suspected poor LBP outcome to offer them more intensive treatment before the chronicity sets in [3]. Although several recent and previous studies have analysed LBP patients in several settings, including the primary care clinics, to determine the prognostic factors that predict the long-term outcome of LBP [4–7], the present knowledge on the short-term course of LBP patients, particularly among workers, seems to be rather poor and still under research, particularly in our region. Two-thirds of the articles about this health problem were contributed from authors within North America with a greater emphasis on prevention [8]. Furthermore, it has recently been reported that the return to work after an episode of LBP is influenced not only by clinical but also by social, lifestyle, economic,
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