Task Force Report on Research Standards for Chronic Low Back Pain

Press Release: Chronic low-back pain research standards announced by NIH Task Force

 
Up to one-quarter of Americans experience low-back pain per year. For some, that pain becomes chronic, a condition that costs the United States at least $100 billion per year. Current best practices for diagnosing and treating chronic low-back pain (cLBP) have yielded only limited success. In addition, it has been difficult to compare, replicate, and reach consensus across results of cLBP studies because of consistency issues.
 
In 2012, NIH convened a Task Force on Research Standards for Chronic Low Back Pain, comprising 16 invited experts from varied disciplines and from scientific and research institutions outside NIH. The NIH Pain Consortium's charge to this group included developing a set of standards to increase the consistency of future clinical research on cLBP.
 
In April 2014, the Task Force began to release publications on its work, including a full report with recommendations on standards, an executive summary, journal articles, and a uniform minimal dataset. The Task Force's recommendations, considered a dynamic document, are intended to help advance the field, resolve controversies, and ease the way in future cLBP research. 
 
Full Task Force Report(pdf, 2654 KB)
Executive Summary(pdf, 691 KB)
Minimal Dataset(pdf, 987 KB)

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