This week, Spinal Columns features work from David Walton and Alison Rushton that looks at the foundations of spinal care assessment and management. We begin with a systematic review on the ability of physical measures to predict outcomes for people with low back pain. The issue also includes a protocol from Alison Rushton for developing expert consensus on return-to-activity guidance following spinal fusion for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. Finally, a review by David Walton and Alison Rushton identifies and maps the core outcome sets used across spinal pain research, showing which domains are common and which are less frequently included.

Identifying which people with low back pain are at risk of a poor outcome is a challenge for providing timely and targeted interventions. Researchers synthesized evidence from multiple studies that tracked adults over time to evaluate if physical measures of functioning could predict their low back pain outcomes.

Guidance for adolescents returning to sport and physical activity after spinal fusion surgery for scoliosis is inconsistent. To form the basis for future guidance, this study will recruit expert surgeons, physiotherapists, and nurses to generate, discuss, and vote on the content of postoperative rehabilitation.

A lack of standardized measurements makes it difficult for researchers to compare and combine data on spinal pain. This systematic review identified, mapped, and examined published core outcome sets for assessing pain in the cervical, thoracic, and lumbar spine.