Published online Mar 18, 2016. doi: 10.5312/wjo.v7.i3.156
Peer-review started: September 22, 2015
First decision: October 30, 2015
Revised: November 17, 2015
Accepted: December 18, 2015
Article in press: December 21, 2015
Published online: March 18, 2016
Processing time: 172 Days and 19 Hours
Low back pain (LBP) is a prevalent and costly condition. Awareness of valid and reliable patient history taking, physical examination and clinical testing is important for diagnostic accuracy. Stratified care which targets treatment to patient subgroups based on key characteristics is reliant upon accurate diagnostics. Models of stratified care that can potentially improve treatment effects include prognostic risk profiling for persistent LBP, likely response to specific treatment based on clinical prediction models or suspected underlying causal mechanisms. The focus of this editorial is to highlight current research status and future directions for LBP diagnostics and stratified care.
Core tip: Knowledge of the current research status and future directions for low back pain diagnostics and stratified care is essential to help engage clinicians in evidence based practice and to potentially improve patient management.