Palmer Center for Chiropractic Research develops resources to help diagnose and address low-back pain

Back pain is a leading cause of disability in most countries due in part to some big challenges in diagnosing and caring for conditions causing low-back pain. Researchers at Palmer Center for Chiropractic Research (PCCR) recently developed new diagnostic and management tools for doctors of chiropractic and other health professionals.

“Back pain is often complex, with sometimes overlapping causes,” said Robert Vining, DC, DHSc, associate dean of clinical research, Palmer Center for Chiropractic Research. “Few good diagnostic tests are available, making diagnosis difficult. People suffering similar symptoms can have completely different conditions. Also, research findings are sometimes difficult for practitioners to interpret and use.”

In a series of three articles published in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, PCCR researchers synthesized current research to help practitioners use research findings. The three articles propose an evidence-based diagnostic checklist for low-back pain, offer a clinical management decision aid, and recommend consistent terminology use among professionals.

Each article in the series is available online. Short videos describing each article also are available on the journal website.

• Development of an Evidence-Based Practical Diagnostic Checklist and Corresponding Clinical Exam for Low Back Pain
• Development of a Clinical Decision Aid for Chiropractic Management of Common Conditions Causing Low Back Pain in Veterans: Result of a Consensus Process
• Current Evidence for Diagnosis of Common Conditions Causing Low Back Pain: Systematic Review and Standardized Terminology Recommendations

The Palmer Center for Chiropractic Research is a part of Palmer College of Chiropractic, the first and largest college in the chiropractic profession. The Palmer Center for Chiropractic Research is the largest chiropractic research center in the nation. Palmer College of Chiropractic has campuses in Davenport, Iowa; San Jose, Calif.; and Port Orange, Fla.

A portion of this work was supported by the National Institutes of Health through cooperative agreement U24AT009769 and UH3 AT 09761 from the National Center for Complementary & Integrative Health, the Office of Research on Women’s Health, and cooperative agreement 5UG3AT009761-02. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.