Report of the NIH Task Force on research standards for chronic low back pain.
Despite rapidly increasing intervention, functional disability due to chronic low back pain (cLBP) has increased in recent decades. We often cannot identify mechanisms to explain the major negative impact cLBP has on patients' lives. Such cLBP is often termed non-specific and may be due to multiple biologic and behavioral etiologies. Researchers use varied inclusion criteria, definitions, baseline assessments, and outcome measures, which impede comparisons and consensus. Therefore, NIH Pain Consortium charged a Research Task Force (RTF) to draft standards for research on cLBP. The resulting multidisciplinary panel recommended using 2 questions to define cLBP; classifying cLBP by its impact (defined by pain intensity, pain interference, and physical function); use of a minimum dataset to describe research participants (drawing heavily on the PROMIS methodology); reporting "responder analyses" in addition to mean outcome scores; and suggestions for future research and dissemination. The Pain Consortium has approved the recommendations, which investigators should incorporate into NIH grant proposals. The RTF believes that these recommendations will advance the field, help to resolve controversies, and facilitate future research addressing the genomic, neurologic, and other mechanistic substrates of chronic low back pain. We expect that the RTF recommendations will become a dynamic document and undergo continual improvement.


CONCLUSIONS
A task force was convened by the NIH Pain Consortium with the goal of developing research standards for chronic low back pain. The results included recommendations for definitions, a minimum dataset, reporting outcomes, and future research. Greater consistency in reporting should facilitate comparisons among studies and the development of phenotypes.
Oregon Health and Sciences University, Portland, Oregon. Electronic address: deyor@ohsu.edu.
Richard A
RA
Deyo
University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.
Samuel F
SF
Dworkin
University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.
Dagmar
D
Amtmann
Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois.
Gunnar
G
Andersson
George Washington University, Washington, District of Columbia.
David
D
Borenstein
Stanford University, Stanford, California.
Eugene
E
Carragee
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland.
John
J
Carrino
Oregon Health and Sciences University, Portland, Oregon.
Roger
R
Chou
Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois.
Karon
K
Cook
VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System and University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Anthony
A
DeLitto
Palmer College of Chiropractic, Davenport, Iowa.
Christine
C
Goertz
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Bethesda, Maryland.
Partap
P
Khalsa
University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.
John
J
Loeser
Stanford University, Stanford, California.
Sean
S
Mackey
National Institute for Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, Bethesda, Maryland.
James
J
Panagis
New England Baptist Hospital, Roxbury Crossing, Massachusetts.
James
J
Rainville
Dartmouth University, Hanover, New Hampshire.
Tor
T
Tosteson
University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.
Dennis
D
Turk
Group Health Research Institute, Seattle, Washington.
Michael
M
Von Korff
VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System and University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Debra K
DK
Weiner
D026683:Advisory Committees / Q000592:standards*; D059350:Chronic Pain; D006801:Humans; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000175:diagnosis*; D009316:National Institutes of Health (U.S.) / Q000592:standards*; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards*; D012106:Research; D012107:Research Design / Q000592:standards; D014481:United States
Low back pain; NIH Task Force; chronic low back pain; minimum dataset; research standards