Chapter 5

• Introduction
• Study Design
• Reporting of Patient Characteristics, Signs, and Symptoms
• Patient Inclusion Criteria

• References
• Appendix: Electronic Data Abstraction Forms
• Selected Acronyms Used in This Report

Introduction

At least some of the gaps in current research on lumbar spinal stenosis probably arise from the suboptimal designs of the studies that have been conducted to date. In addition, at least some additional gaps likely arise from the manner in which patient characteristics and results are reported, even in well-designed trials. Other gaps seem to result from the somewhat varied patient inclusion criteria used in these studies. The purpose of the present section is to provide evidence supporting these suppositions and to thereby illuminate where these gaps lie.

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Last Updated: 08/19/2010