Adverse events reported as number of people with NS-LBP experiencing adverse events and number of events classified from grade 1–5
| Study (Author, year) | Category of intervention | Adverse events | ||||||
| n | % | AE 1 (mild), n | AE 2 (moderate), n | AE 3 (severe), n | AE 4 (disabling), n | AE 5 (death), n | ||
| Shin, 2013 | Acupuncture | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Mayer, 2005 | Education | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Traeger, 2019 | Education | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Mayer, 2005 | Exercise | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mayer, 2005 | Heat wrap | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nadler, 2002 | Heat wrap | – | 6.2 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Nadler, 2003b | Heat wrap | – | 15 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Nadler, 2003a | Heat wrap | 1 | 1.1 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Santilli, 2006 | Manual therapy | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Takamoto, 2015 | Manual therapy | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Takamoto, 2015 | Manual therapy | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – |
| von Heymann, 2013 | Manual therapy | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Berry, 1988 | Muscle relaxant | 25 | 42,4 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Hindle, 1972 | Muscle relaxant | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ketenci, 2005 | Muscle relaxant | – | 18; 10; 5; 5* | – | – | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ketenci, 2005 | Muscle relaxant | – | 28; 3; 15* | – | – | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ralph, 2008 | Muscle relaxant | – | – | 74 | – | – | – | – |
| Serfer, 2009 | Muscle relaxant | – | – | 69 | – | – | – | – |
| Serfer, 2009 | Muscle relaxant | – | – | 85 | – | – | – | – |
| Tuzun, 2003 | Muscle relaxant | – | – | 4 | – | – | – | – |
| Amlie, 1987 | NSAIDs | 18 | 13 | 14 | 6 | 1 | – | – |
| Dreiser, 2003 | NSAIDs | 15 | 12.1† | – | – | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dreiser, 2003 | NSAIDs | 17 | 13.9† | – | – | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Eken, 2014 | NSAIDs | 4 | 8.7 | 4 | – | – | – | – |
| Goldie, 1968 | NSAIDs | 8 | 32 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Miki, 2018 | NSAIDs | 5 | 7.9† | – | – | – | – | – |
| Nadler, 2002 | NSAIDs | – | 10.4 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Nadler, 2003b | NSAIDs | – | 25 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Nadler, 2003a | NSAIDs | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Sae-Jung, 2016 | NSAIDs | 4 | 12 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Shin, 2013 | NSAIDs | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Szpalski, 1994 | NSAIDs | 1 | 2.7 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Veenema, 2000 | NSAIDs | – | – | 8 | – | – | – | – |
| Videman, 1984 | NSAIDs | 19 | 54.3 | – | – | – | – | – |
| von Heymann, 2013 | NSAIDs | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Eken, 2014 | Opioid | 7 | 15.5 | 6 | 1 | – | – | – |
| Veenema, 2000 | Opioid | – | – | 41 | – | – | – | – |
| Videman, 1984 | Opioid | 23 | 65.7 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Eken, 2014 | Paracetamol | 4 | 8.7 | 4 | – | – | – | – |
| Miki, 2018 | Paracetamol | 1 | 1.6† | – | – | – | – | – |
| Nadler, 2002 | Paracetamol | – | 4.4 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Williams, 2014 | Paracetamol | 99 | 18.0† | – | – | – | – | – |
| Williams, 2014 | Paracetamol | 99 | 18.0† | – | – | – | – | – |
| Eskin, 2014 | Steroids | – | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sae-Jung, 2016 | Steroids | 15 | 46.9† | – | – | – | – | – |
| Amlie, 1987 | Inert treatment | 24 | 17 | 19 | 8 | 2 | – | – |
| Berry, 1988 | Inert treatment | 12 | 22.6 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Dreiser, 2003 | Inert treatment | 25 | 19.8† | – | – | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Eskin, 2014 | Inert treatment | – | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Goldie, 1968 | Inert treatment | 5 | 20 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Hindle, 1972 | Inert treatment | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ketenci, 2005 | Inert treatment | – | 22; 4* | – | – | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nadler, 2003b | Inert treatment | – | 12 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Nadler, 2003a | Inert treatment | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Nadler, 2003a | Inert treatment | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Ralph, 2008 | Inert treatment | – | – | 26 | – | – | – | – |
| Santilli, 2006 | Inert treatment | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Serfer, 2009 | Inert treatment | – | – | 34 | – | – | – | – |
| Szpalski, 1994 | Inert treatment | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Takamoto, 2015 | Inert treatment | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Traeger, 2019 | Inert treatment | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Tuzun, 2003 | Inert treatment | – | – | 4 | – | – | – | – |
| von Heymann, 2013 | Inert treatment | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Williams, 2014 | Inert treatment | 98 | 18.0 | – | – | – | – | – |
All references of included studies are provided in online supplemental C.
*Percentage of people with NS-LBP reporting specific adverse events (eg, headache, diarrhea, dyspepsia).
†Percentages were reported slightly different in the primary studies (unclear about randomised people with NS-LBP).
NS-LBP, non-specific low back pain.