Short communication Patient led goal setting in chronic low back pain—What goals are important to the patient and are they aligned to what we measure? Tania Gardner a, *, Kathryn Refshauge b , James McAuley c , Stephen Goodall d , Markus Hu ¨ bscher c , Lorraine Smith a a Faculty of Pharmacy, Sydney University, Sydney, Australia b Faculty of Health Sciences, Sydney University, Sydney, Australia c Neuroscience Research Australia, Sydney, Australia d Centre for Health Economics Research & Evaluation, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, Australia 1. Introduction The use of standardised outcome measures in the management of chronic low back pain (cLBP) is recognised worldwide. They are used to guide the health care professional (HCP) in their clinical reasoning as well as benchmarking treatment goals and success. Outcome measures are based on quantitative parameters creating the benefit of determining specific treatment goals, and hence they are ideal for assessing outcomes [1]. Several investigations into the use of outcome measures by physiotherapists have found that measures usually focus on impairments of pain, range of motion (ROM) (e.g. bending forward) and strength [2,3]. In 2005, The Initiative on Methods, Measurement, and Pain Assessment in Clinical Trials (IMMPACT) consortium recommended that six core outcome domains should be considered when designing chronic pain clinical trials, see Table 1 [4]. The most commonly used measures in cLBP research assess disability, pain, psychosocial function and quality of life [5]. This study aims to explore and identify those goals that are important to cLBP patients and to investigate the extent of their alignment with outcome measures used in both clinical and research settings. 2. Methods 2.1. Study design A single arm pre-post intervention longitudinal cohort study was conducted. The study involved a customised, patient-led goal setting intervention facilitated by a physiotherapist, in which participants identified personally relevant problem areas and were coached to develop strategies to address them. Problem areas, Patient Education and Counseling xxx (2015) xxx–xxx A R T I C L E I N F O Article history: Received 24 October 2014 Received in revised form 9 April 2015 Accepted 18 April 2015 Keywords: Patient centred Patient led goal setting Chronic low back pain Outcome measures A B S T R A C T Objective: To determine the extent of alignment between clinical outcome measures and patient-derived goals for the management of chronic low back pain (cLBP). Methods: A customised, patient-led goal setting intervention was implemented facilitated by a physiotherapist, in which participants identified problem areas and developed strategies to address them. Patient goals were compared to the most commonly used outcome measures in cLBP as well as research outcomes recommended by the IMMPACT consortium. Results: From 20 participants, a total of 27 unique goals were identified, the most common goal related to physical activity (49%). Comparison of participant goals to the most common measures used by physiotherapists found none of the goals could be aligned. Comparison of goals and domains with IMPACCT outcome domains found 76% of the goals were aligned with physical functioning and 16% with emotional functioning. Conclusion: This study has identified goals important to patients in cLBP, these were varied, and most did not correspond with current clinical measures. Practice implications: Clinical outcome measures may not be providing accurate information about the success of treatments that are meaningful to the patient. Clinicians should consider a collaborative approach with cLBP patients to determine treatment interventions that are driven by patient preference. ß 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. * Corresponding author at: Faculty of Pharmacy, Science Road, Sydney University, Camperdown 2006, NSW, Australia. Tel.: +61 410449766. E-mail address: tgar4750@uni.sydney.edu.au (T. Gardner). G Model PEC-5035; No. of Pages 4 Please cite this article in press as: Gardner T, et al. Patient led goal setting in chronic low back pain—What goals are important to the patient and are they aligned to what we measure? Patient Educ Couns (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2015.04.012 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Patient Education and Counseling jo ur n al h o mep ag e: w ww .elsevier .co m /loc ate/p ated u co u http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2015.04.012 0738-3991/ß 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.