Dr Sweekriti Sharma
KEY PUBLICATIONS​
MA, MPH, PhD
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Dr Sweekriti Sharma is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Institute for Musculoskeletal Health, the University of Sydney and Sydney Local Health District. She is originally from Nepal and has a background in public health. She completed her PhD in 2021 from the University of Sydney. Her research focuses on overdiagnosis in low back pain. She is currently managing a large NHMRC-funded trial of behavioural interventions to reduce low-value care for low back pain in the emergency department. She was awarded the prestigious Emerging Leader Investigator Award from the Australian Clinical Trials Alliance in 2021.
Key Research Projects
NUDG-ED
In 2018 over 120 000 people went to an emergency department in Australia because of low back pain. Most had ‘simple’ low back pain, where medical care such as diagnostic imaging (x-Ray, CT, MRI) and strong opioid medicines offer little benefit. Yet 3 in every 4 patients still received this kind of care. Unnecessary care can harm patients and diverts substantial resources from where they are most needed. NUDGED tests a new way to reduce unnecessary care in Australian hospitals. Funding: NHMRC Clinical Trials and Cohort Studies Scheme – $1.12 million funding Principal Investigator: Adrian Traeger Chief Investigators: Prof Chris Maher (IMH),Prof Louise Cullen (University of Queensland),Prof Kirsten McCaffery (University of Sydney), Prof Jeffrey Linder (Northwestern Memorial Hospital), Prof Rachelle Buchbinder (Monash University), Prof Ian Harris (University of New South Wales), Prof Enrico Coiera (Macquarie University), Mr Qiang Li (The George Institute for Global Health), Prof Kirsten Howard (University of Sydney). Associate Investigators: Dr Andrew Coggins (Westmead Hospital), Ms Elise Tcharkhedian (Liverpool Hospital), Dr Gustavo Machado (IMH), Dr Ian Ferguson (Liverpool Hospital), Prof James McAuley (Neuroscience Research Australia), Janet Harrison, Dr Zoe Michaleff (Bond University Limited), Dr Trevor Chan (Emergency Care Institute), Dr Robyn Lindner (NPS MedicineWise).
Can an electronic medical record nudge change clinicians’ drug-level requesting behaviour? An interrupted time-series study
Patient information sheets to support decision-making about low back pain in primary care: A randomized clinical trial
Prevalence of low back pain in Nepal: results from a nationally representative WHO NCD STEPS survey
What do the general public believe about low back pain: a scoping review of population-based studies
Exploring preferences for care options and smallest worthwhile effects among people with low back pain