Patient-Reported Outcomes in an Interdisciplinary Spine Care Pathway for Low Back Pain: A Prospective Pilot Study

Introduction: Low back pain is a leading cause of global disability, placing substantial burdens on individuals and healthcare systems.Traditional single-discipline pathways often yield fragmented delivery and suboptimal outcomes.Interdisciplinary spine center models emphasizing shared decision-making and nonsurgical pathways may streamline care, improve clinical outcomes, and enhance patient satisfaction.This study aimed to describe short-term patient-reported outcomes among adults with low back pain managed within an interdisciplinary spine care pathway.Methods: In this prospective longitudinal cohort pilot study conducted at an academic spine center, 89 adults (aged 18-75) with low back pain with or without radicular symptoms were evaluated.Primary outcomes included PROMIS Pain Interference (PROMIS-PI), PROMIS Physical Function (PROMIS-PF), and the Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire-18 (PSQ-18) administered at baseline and three months after enrollment in the interdisciplinary spine care pathway.Secondary measures tracked physical therapy (PT) participation, acupuncture utilization, spinal injections, opioid prescribing, MRI/CT imaging, and surgical referrals.Results: Among participants who completed the three-month follow-up, PROMIS-PI scores decreased significantly and PROMIS-PF scores increased significantly.PSQ-18 satisfaction scores remained high and did not change significantly.For secondary measures, 51 individuals participated in PT, 33 individuals received acupuncture, 20 individuals underwent spinal injections, 39 individuals had MRI/CT imaging, five individuals required opioid therapy, and three individuals were referred to spine surgery.In exploratory subgroup analyses, participants who received PT had significant within-group improvement in both pain interference and physical function.Among participants who received acupuncture, significant within-group improvement was observed in pain interference only.No statistically significant short-term change in either domain was observed among participants who underwent spinal injections.Conclusions: In this prospective pilot cohort, participants who completed follow-up demonstrated improvement in PROMIS-PI and PROMIS-PF over three months at the overall cohort level.These findings are descriptive and hypothesis-generating; comparative studies are needed to determine whether the observed changes are attributable to the interdisciplinary care pathway or to specific components of care.