The Back Pain Outcome Assessment Team.

Abstract

This assessment team chose to focus on back because of the high prevalence of the condition in the population and the high cost of related medical care and disability compensation. Furthermore, wide geographic variations in the use of hospitalization and surgery for back have been well documented. It is estimated that 60 percent to 80 percent of the adult population will have back at some time, and back is the second leading reason for all physician visits. We chose the broad rubric of low back pain as the scope of inquiry because diagnostic criteria for back problems are often ambiguous, multiple conditions may coexist, and definitive diagnosis is often impossible. The broad hypothesis underlying our research is that variations in the use of surgery, hospitalization, and diagnostic technologies are often related to physician practice styles, and can be substantially reduced with little or no adverse effect on patient outcomes. The specific objectives of this assessment team are to: