AN AGENDA FOR PRIMARY-CARE RESEARCH ON LOW-BACK-PAIN

In October 1995, an International Forum for Primary Care Research on L ow Back Pain was held in Seattle, Washington. The Forum focused on the broad range of decisions that patients and their primary care provide rs make concerning how to best manage low back pain. In addition to pr oviding a venue for summarizing the current state of knowledge about t hese issues, a major goal of the Forum was to draft an agenda for futu re primary care research on low back pain. Previous efforts to delinea te priority areas for research in this field have emphasized the conce rns of basic scientists, pain specialists, and surgeons while ignoring the major concerns of patients and providers in the primary care sett ing, where the majority of patients with back pain are seen. This arti cle describes the group consensus process used to draft an agenda, pre sents the items included, and contrasts this primary care agenda with agendas for back pain research developed primarily by specialists. Thi s agenda identifies for the first time the clinical and methodologic i ssues that primary care experts on back pain consider to be of highest priority. Hopefully, it will help focus future primary care research and encourage funding agencies to give priority to the issues identifi ed.