title: Report of the NIH Task Force on Research Standards for Chronic Low Back Pain.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Oregon Health and Sciences University, Portland, Oregon. Electronic address: deyor@ohsu.edu.
authors.forename: Richard A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Deyo
authors.affiliation: University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.
authors.forename: Samuel F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Dworkin
authors.affiliation: University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.
authors.forename: Dagmar
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Amtmann
authors.affiliation: Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois.
authors.forename: Gunnar
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Andersson
authors.affiliation: George Washington University, Washington, District of Columbia.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Borenstein
authors.affiliation: Stanford University, Stanford, California.
authors.forename: Eugene
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Carragee
authors.forename: John A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Carrino
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Carrino
authors.affiliation: Oregon Health and Sciences University, Portland, Oregon.
authors.forename: Roger
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chou
authors.affiliation: Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois.
authors.forename: Karon
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Cook
authors.affiliation: VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System and University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: Anthony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: DeLitto
authors.affiliation: Palmer College of Chiropractic, Davenport, Iowa.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Goertz
authors.affiliation: National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Bethesda, Maryland.
authors.forename: Partap
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Khalsa
authors.affiliation: University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Loeser
authors.affiliation: Stanford University, Stanford, California.
authors.forename: Sean
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mackey
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, Bethesda, Maryland.
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Panagis
authors.affiliation: New England Baptist Hospital, Roxbury Crossing, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rainville
authors.affiliation: Dartmouth University, Hanover, New Hampshire.
authors.forename: Tor
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tosteson
authors.affiliation: University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.
authors.forename: Dennis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Turk
authors.affiliation: Group Health Research Institute, Seattle, Washington.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Von Korff
authors.affiliation: VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System and University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: Debra K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Weiner
mesh_terms: D026683:Advisory Committees; D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000592:standards; D002908:Chronic Disease; D066264:Datasets as Topic / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D017116:Low Back Pain; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care / Q000592:standards*; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000592:standards; D012107:Research Design / Q000592:standards*
keywords: Low back pain; NIH Task Force; chronic low back pain; minimum dataset; research standards