Pain, 29 (1987) 1-22 Elsevier PA1 01004 Clinical Section Treating chronic low back pain. I. Admissions to initial follow-up zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcb David L. ~c~thur *, Michael J. Cohen * , Harold J. Gottlieb * *, Bruce D. Naliboff * * * and Steven L. Schandler * * Behauioral Medicine Research, Veterans Administration Medical &enter, Long Beach, CA 90822 (U.S.A.), * * Comprehensive Back Services, Casa Colina Hospital for Rehabilitative iUedicine, Pomona, CA 91767 (U.S.A.) md Department of Psychology, California State University, Los Angeles, CA (U.S.A.), and ** * Veterans Administration Medical Center, Sepulveda, CA 91343 (U.S.A.) (Received 6 June 1986, accepted 31 July 1986) summary For a normative study of chronic low back pain (CLBP), 702 consecutive admissions to a large multidisciplinary CLBP treatment program were assessed at admission, discharge, and l-month follow-up, using a variety of psychological and functional performance instruments. Both univariate and multivariate approaches to appraising success are evaluated. Psychological profiles demonstrated a substantial degree of disability at admissions, which is significantly reduced at follow-up. Both behavioral and cognitive aspects of performance, as evidenced by objective assessments of patients’ physical abilities and verbalizations, unproved as a direct function of length of stay in the treatment program and wntinued to show modest improvement through follow-up. Composite indices of ~provement demon- strated favorable outcomes for no less than four in every ten, and as high as nine in every ten participants. Because of the large sample size, relationships both within and across measurement domains can be assessed statistically: the separate sets of outcome measures, with the exception of psychological profiles, are generally independent of each other. Rey words: Chronic low back pain; (Admission); zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONML (Follow-UP) zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPO Introductiou In both physical and psychological terms, chronic low back pain (CLBP) con- stitutes an illness syndrome with severely debilitating consequences for the patient. A number of researchers during the last decade have reported general consistency in Correspondence to: David L. McArthur, Behavioral Medicine Research, Veterans Ad~s~ation Medical Center, Long Beach, CA 90822, U.S.A. 0304-3959/87/$03.50 0 1987 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. (Biomedical Division)