Integrative non-drug therapies treat back pain at reasonable cost

Kaiser Permanente researchers Drs. Daniel Cherkin, Karen Sherman, and Andrew Avins produced much of evidence in ICER report

Kaiser Permanente Share is featuring a new Q&A called “Kaiser Permanente Researchers Explore Integrative Therapies for Back Pain,” with Daniel C. Cherkin, PhD, Karen J. Sherman, PhD, and Andrew L. Avins, MD, MPH. Dr. Cherkin wrote an editorial in JAMA Internal Medicine with Patricia Herman, ND, PhD: Evidence to Practice: The ICER Report on Cognitive and Mind-Body Therapies for Chronic Low Back and Neck Pain: Effectiveness and Value.

Dr. Cherkin is a senior investigator (emeritus) at Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute (KPWHRI); Dr. Sherman is a senior investigator at KPWHRI; Dr. Avins is a research scientist at the Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente Northern California; and Dr. Herman is a senior behavioral and social scientist at the RAND Corporation.

Drs. Cherkin and Herman’s editorial is about a new report from the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER), “Cognitive and Mind-Body Therapies for Chronic Low Back and Neck Pain: Effectiveness and Value.” The report concluded that yoga, mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and acupuncture can provide added benefit for relieving pain and boosting function—safely and at reasonable cost. Much of the evidence base for the analyses in the ICER report came from Kaiser Permanente teams led by Drs. Cherkin, Sherman, and Avins.