Exploring Why People with Back Pain Use the Pain Management Strategies They Do: Is Research Looking in the Wrong Places?

These outcomes suggest that people with LBP are likely to have nuanced reasons for choosing the management strategies they use, and this can contrast with the outcomes tested in empirical studies. Our findings suggest that researchers may need to broaden or rethink which outcomes they measure and how, including by meaningfully engaging consumers in research design. Furthermore, clinicians could better explore their patients' reasons for using the strategies they do before suggesting they discard existing strategies or offering new ones.