title: How do we define the term idiopathic?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The term idiopathic is often used to describe a disease with no identifiable cause. It may be a diagnosis of exclusion; however, what specific minimum investigations need to be performed to define idiopathic is not always clear. This commentary describes the problems inherent in reaching a definition for the term idiopathic.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There is limited literature describing methodology to define a condition with no clear diagnostic criteria. This article offers chronic pelvic pain (CPP) syndrome as an example, in which structured qualitative interviews, literature searches and group consensus discussions were undertaken to produce a working definition for idiopathic CPP.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It is important to correctly develop these standardized definitions for use as outcome measures in research and as clinical indicators in healthcare.
authors.affiliation: aWomen's Health Research Unit, Queen Mary, University of London, London bBirmingham Clinical Trials Unit, School of Cancer Sciences, Robert Aitken Institute, University of Birmingham cBarts Health NHS Trust, The Royal London Hospital, Whitechapel Road, London, UK.
authors.forename: Seema A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Tirlapur
authors.forename: Lee
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Priest
authors.forename: Jane P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Daniels
authors.forename: Khalid S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Khan
mesh_terms: D059350:Chronic Pain / Q000175:diagnosis; D032921:Consensus; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017699:Pelvic Pain / Q000175:diagnosis; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012015:Reference Standards; D009626:Terminology as Topic