The use of weekly text messaging over 6 months was a feasible method for monitoring the clinical course of low back pain in patients seeking chiropractic care.

Objective: This study critically evaluates a new method of collecting frequent data using mobile phones and text messages. Fluctuating conditions such as low back pain (LBP) need frequent monitoring to describe the clinical course in detail and to account for individual and subgroup variations.

Study Design And Setting: In this multicentre prospective observational study, 262 subjects with nonspecific LBP were followed with weekly text messages for 6 months, with the question "How many days this previous week has your low back pain been bothersome?" The text replies were instantly recorded in a data file to be merged with baseline and follow up data (age, gender, pain intensity, duration, and self- rated health) collected through ordinary questionnaires.

Clustering patients on the basis of their individual course of low back pain over a six month period.

Background: Several researchers have searched for subgroups in the heterogeneous population of patients with non-specific low back pain (LBP). To date, subgroups have been identified based on psychological profiles and the variation of pain.

Methods: This multicentre prospective observational study explored the 6- month clinical course with measurements of bothersomeness that were collected from weekly text messages that were sent by 176 patients with LBP.

The Nordic Subpopulation Research Programme: prediction of treatment outcome in patients with low back pain treated by chiropractors--does the psychological profile matter?

Background: It is clinically important to be able to select patients suitable for treatment and to be able to predict with some certainty the outcome for patients treated for low back pain (LBP). It is not known to what degree outcome among chiropractic patients is affected by psychological factors.

Objectives: To investigate if some demographic, psychological, and clinical variables can predict outcome with chiropractic care in patients with LBP.

The Nordic Maintenance Care Program: when do chiropractors recommend secondary and tertiary preventive care for low back pain?

Background: Among chiropractors the use of long-term treatment is common, often referred to as "maintenance care". Although no generally accepted definition exists, the term has a self-explanatory meaning to chiropractic clinicians. In public health terms, maintenance care can be considered as both secondary and tertiary preventive care.

The Nordic maintenance care program--case management of chiropractic patients with low back pain: a survey of Swedish chiropractors.

Background: Chiropractic treatment for low back pain (LBP) can often be divided into two phases: Initial treatment of the problem to attempt to remove pain and bring it back into its pre-clinical or maximum improvement status, and "maintenance care", during which it is attempted to maintain this status. Although the use of chiropractic maintenance care has been described and discussed in the literature, there is no information as to its precise indications. The objective of this study is to investigate if there is agreement among Swedish chiropractors on the overall patient management for various types of LBP-scenarios, with a special emphasis on maintenance care.

The Nordic back pain subpopulation program: the long-term outcome pattern in patients with low back pain treated by chiropractors in Sweden.

Objectives: (1) To describe the low back pain (LBP) pattern at baseline; (2) to describe the long-term outcome pattern; (3) to investigate the presence of distinct subgroups in relation to outcome; (4) to establish whether short-term outcome is a predictor of long-term outcome.

Methods: A 3- to 6- and 12- to 18-month, multicenter practice-based, prospective descriptive study was performed in private chiropractic practices in Sweden. Fifty-eight of 64 previously compliant chiropractors each recruited a maximum of 30 consecutive patients with LBP.

The Nordic Back Pain Subpopulation Program: validation and improvement of a predictive model for treatment outcome in patients with low back pain receiving chiropractic treatment.

Objective: The aim of this study was to develop a predictive model for treatment outcome in patients with low back pain (LBP) receiving chiropractic treatment.

Methods: This multicenter practice-based predictive validity study was conducted in private chiropractic practices in Sweden. Of 64 previously compliant chiropractors, 58 recruited a maximum of 30 consecutive patients with LBP each.

The Nordic back pain subpopulation program: can patient reactions to the first chiropractic treatment predict early favorable treatment outcome in nonpersistent low back pain?

Objective: To investigate whether 3 distinct patterns of reactions to chiropractic care can predict early favorable treatment outcome in patients with nonpersistent low back pain (LBP).

Design: Multicenter practice-based predictive validity study.

Study Subjects: Sixty private practice chiropractors in Sweden recruited a maximum of 20 consecutive patients with LBP each, with a duration of less than 2 weeks at the time of consultation and a maximum of 30 days totally over the past year.

Can patient reactions to the first chiropractic treatment predict early favorable treatment outcome in persistent low back pain?

Objective: To investigate whether 3 distinct patterns of reactions to chiropractic care predict early favorable treatment outcome in patients with persistent low back pain.

Design And Setting: Multicenter, clinic-based prospective outcome study with standardized interview questionnaires conducted in private chiropractic practices in Sweden.

Study Subjects: Previously compliant chiropractors were invited to participate in the study.