Chronic low-back pain research standards announced by NIH task force
Better research may help address health issue that affects millions
Recommended standards for clinical low-back pain research hold promise for more consistently designed research and, in the long term, better treatment solutions to support those living with chronic low-back pain. The recommendations from the National Institutes of Health Task Force on Research Standards for Chronic Low-Back Pain were published in several leading back pain journals.
The Institute of Medicine has estimated that chronic pain affects approximately 100 million adults in the United States, with an estimated annual cost of up to $635 billion. In the United States, low-back pain is the most common cause of job-related disability and a leading contributor to missed work. Back pain is the second most common neurological ailment in the United States — only headache is more common. Each year, low-back pain is estimated to affect approximately 38 percent of people worldwide.