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Addressing the “Black Hole” of Low Back Pain Care With Clinical Decision Support: User-Centered Design and Initial Usability Study

Robert S. Rudin, Patricia M. Herman, Robert Vining

JMIR Formative Research, 2024

Abstract

Abstract Background Low back pain (LBP) is a highly prevalent problem causing substantial personal and societal burden. Although there are specific types of LBP, each with evidence-based treatment recommendations, most patients receive a nonspecific diagnosis that does not facilitate evidence-based and individualized care. Objectives We designed, developed, and initially tested the usability of a LBP diagnosis and treatment decision support tool based on the available evidence for use by clinicians who treat LBP, with an initial focus on chiropractic care. Methods Our 3-step user-centered design approach consisted of identifying clinical requirements through the analysis of evidence reviews, iteratively identifying task-based user requirements and developing a working web-based prototype, and evaluating usability through scenario-based interviews and the System Usability Scale. Results The 5 participating users had an average of 18.5 years of practicing chiropractic medicine. Clinical requirements included 44 patient interview and examination items. Of these, 13 interview items were enabled for all patients and 13 were enabled conditional on other input items. One examination item was enabled for all patients and 16 were enabled conditional on other items. One item was a synthesis of interview and examination items. These items provided evidence of 12 possible working diagnoses of which 3 were macrodiagnoses and 9 were microdiagnoses. Each diagnosis had relevant treatment…

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