Treating chronic low back pain. II. Long-term follow-up.

Appraisal of chronic low back pain (CLBP) treatment outcome is incomplete unless results can be shown to be stable over an extended follow-up period. This paper concentrates on methods by which the long-term trends of objective outcome assessments can be studied and predictions developed given incomplete data. Employment and litigation status, self-rating of pain, activities, medications, and hospitalizations related to pain were periodically assessed in up to 210 graduates of a CLBP treatment program, over a period of 6 months to 5 years following treatment.

Treating chronic low back pain. I. Admissions to initial follow-up.

For a normative study of chronic low back pain (CLBP), 702 consecutive admissions to a large multidisciplinary CLBP treatment program were assessed at admission, discharge, and 1-month follow-up, using a variety of psychological and functional performance instruments. Both univariate and multivariate approaches to appraising success are evaluated. Psychological profiles demonstrated a substantial degree of disability at admissions, which is significantly reduced at follow-up.