Development of a maintenance care instrument (MAINTAIN)

Non-specific Low Back Pain (LBP) is a highly prevalent condition affecting a large part of the population, yet the evidence for effective preventive interventions are scarce and limited. Chiropractic maintenance care (MC) have shown to be effective and cost-effective among a particular subgroup of patients with a specific psychological profile.

Maintain project logo
Maintain project logo Foto: Andreas Eklund

The identification of this profile is based on an extensive psychological instrument, the West Haven-Yale Multidimensional Pain Inventory, developed for research purposes.

The overall aim of this project is to develop a clinical instrument designed to identify patients for which MC is effective and cost-effective, suitable for the clinical setting, as well as to explore patient’s preferences to and experiences of MC. 

Specific objectives

  1. To develop a short psychological screening instrument based on MPI-S, aimed at clinical practice. 
  2. To test the content validity of the new instrument in a new population. 
  3. To test clinicians ability to classify patients to the correct psychological subgroup (as identified by the original instrument) by using a structured interview. 
  4. To test the construct validity of the new instrument by comparing it to two other validated instruments (ÖMSQ, STaRT Back).
  5. To explore patients’ experiences and preferences regarding MC with a focus on barriers and facilitators of engaging and maintaining such a care plan.

The knowledge gained from this project should result in more favorable clinical outcomes and more cost-effective use of MC.  The results will also improve the basis for health care decision-making and policy recommendations on how to use limited health care resources.

Funding

European Centre for Chiropractic Research Excellence, ECCRE  

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Andreas Eklund

Assistant Professor
JC
Content reviewer:
Anna Frantz
28-10-2023