The standardized Delphi Definitions of Low Back Pain Prevalence (DOLBaPP) are the result of an intensive consensual process (a modified Delphi study) conducted in 2006 with 28 experts from 12 countries.
The aim of this process was to identify a standardized way of defining low back pain prevalence to allow valid comparisons between national and international epidemiological studies of low back pain. Use of the definitions should help to overcome the well-known problems of heterogeneity in back pain study findings and the consequent limitations or impossibilities in comparing or summarizing back pain prevalence data from different studies.
Two definitions were agreed upon, a minimal and an optimal one. Short questionnaires were later built from both definitions. Use of these questionnaires may improve the validity of future comparisons of back pain prevalence figures and facilitate statistical summaries.
1Dionne, C.E., Dunn, K.M., Croft, P.R. et al. A consensus approach toward the standardization of back pain definitions for use in prevalence studies. Spine, 2008. 33(1): 95-103.