{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,22]],"date-time":"2026-10-22T04:42:44Z","timestamp":1792644164086,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":46,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"24","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,7]],"date-time":"2022-12-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1670371200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJERPH"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Objective: To investigate the most common physical examination tests (PET) for the screening for referral of patients with back or chest pain caused by serious pathology. Methods: A systematic review was conducted. Searches were performed on seven electronic databases between June 2020 and December 2021. Only studies evaluating patients with back and\/or chest pain with clear reporting of PETs and prompt patient referrals were included. Results: 316 full texts were included, and these studies had a total of 474\/492 patients affected by a serious disease. Only 26 studies of them described suspicion of serious disease due to at least one positive PET. Cardiac\/pulmonary auscultation and heartbeats\/blood pressure measurements were the most frequently reported tests. None of the reported studies included physiotherapists and chiropractors who reported the use of various tests, such as: cardiac and pulmonary auscultation, lung percussion, costovertebral angle tenderness, and lymph node palpation, highlighting a lack of attention in measuring vital parameters. On the contrary, doctors and nurses reported the assessment of the range of motion of the thoracolumbar spine and hip less frequently. Conclusions: Appropriate reporting of PETs is sparse, and their utilization is heterogeneous among different healthcare professionals. Further primary studies are needed to describe PETs results in patients suffering from back and\/or chest pain.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph192416418","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,8]],"date-time":"2022-12-08T01:44:31Z","timestamp":1670463871000},"page":"16418","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":27,"title":["Screening for Referral of Serious Pathology by Physical Examination Tests in Patients with Back or Chest Pain: A Systematic Review"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"19","author":[{"given":"Federico","family":"Andreoletti","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Departement of Neurosciences, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetic and Maternal Infantile Sciences (DINOGMI), University of Genova-Campus of Savona, 17100 Savona, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9683-9975","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Filippo","family":"Maselli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Human Neurosciences, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4848-4262","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lorenzo","family":"Storari","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Human Neurosciences, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Andrea","family":"Vongher","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Departement of Neurosciences, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetic and Maternal Infantile Sciences (DINOGMI), University of Genova-Campus of Savona, 17100 Savona, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Monica","family":"Erbesato","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Departement of Neurosciences, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetic and Maternal Infantile Sciences (DINOGMI), University of Genova-Campus of Savona, 17100 Savona, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8643-7200","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Marco","family":"Testa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Departement of Neurosciences, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetic and Maternal Infantile Sciences (DINOGMI), University of Genova-Campus of Savona, 17100 Savona, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1609-8060","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Andrea","family":"Turolla","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Occupational Medicine, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Bologna, 40138 Bologna, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences (DIBINEM), Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,7]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"305","DOI":"10.2522\/ptj.20140525","article-title":"Prevalence and \"Red Flags\" Regarding Specified Causes of Back Pain in General Practice","volume":"96","author":"Enthoven","year":"2016","journal-title":"Phys. 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