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http://www.painmedicinenews.com//Vi...&d_id=244&i=January+2015&i_id=1139&a_id=29191
NIH: New Standards May Lead to Better Low Back Pain Research
New recommended standards for low back pain (LBP) clinical research hold promise for more consistently designed research and, ultimately, better treatments, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The standards were developed by the NIH’s Task Force on Research Standards for Chronic Low-Back Pain and published in several journals (complete list below). According to the Institutes of Medicine, LBP affects 38% of the U.S. population.
At the core of the task force’s recommendations is a uniform minimal data set intended to increase consistency among studies. The data collection questions include assessing length of time a patient has been experiencing LBP, functional limitations, use of various treatment approaches and effects on a variety of factors such as mood and sleep.
“The development of a uniform minimal data set is a major step to driving strong science around low back pain,” said Josephine P. Briggs, MD, director of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine and an NIH Pain Consortium Executive Committee member. “We are hopeful that these research standards will help ensure that the science can be translated into better clinical care.”
“We encourage all researchers who study low back pain to utilize these standards in their research efforts,” said Stephen I. Katz, MD, PhD, director of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. “With the adoption of a more uniform research approach, we hope to see greater and faster progress for preventing and treating this condition.”
The NIH Pain Consortium convened the task force with 16 invited experts from various disciplines and from scientific and research institutions outside the NIH. The task force was charged with addressing the challenge of comparing data across different studies.
In addition to the journal articles, the task force has released a full report of its activities with its recommendations on standards and the uniform minimal dataset on the NIH Pain Consortium website. Click here to view the full report. Click here to download the minimal dataset questions.
—Donald M. Pizzi
NIH: New Standards May Lead to Better Low Back Pain Research
New recommended standards for low back pain (LBP) clinical research hold promise for more consistently designed research and, ultimately, better treatments, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The standards were developed by the NIH’s Task Force on Research Standards for Chronic Low-Back Pain and published in several journals (complete list below). According to the Institutes of Medicine, LBP affects 38% of the U.S. population.
At the core of the task force’s recommendations is a uniform minimal data set intended to increase consistency among studies. The data collection questions include assessing length of time a patient has been experiencing LBP, functional limitations, use of various treatment approaches and effects on a variety of factors such as mood and sleep.
“The development of a uniform minimal data set is a major step to driving strong science around low back pain,” said Josephine P. Briggs, MD, director of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine and an NIH Pain Consortium Executive Committee member. “We are hopeful that these research standards will help ensure that the science can be translated into better clinical care.”
“We encourage all researchers who study low back pain to utilize these standards in their research efforts,” said Stephen I. Katz, MD, PhD, director of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. “With the adoption of a more uniform research approach, we hope to see greater and faster progress for preventing and treating this condition.”
The NIH Pain Consortium convened the task force with 16 invited experts from various disciplines and from scientific and research institutions outside the NIH. The task force was charged with addressing the challenge of comparing data across different studies.
In addition to the journal articles, the task force has released a full report of its activities with its recommendations on standards and the uniform minimal dataset on the NIH Pain Consortium website. Click here to view the full report. Click here to download the minimal dataset questions.
—Donald M. Pizzi
