Claire D. Johnson, Scott Haldeman, Margareta Nordin, Roger Chou, Pierre Côté, Eric L. Hurwitz, Bart N. Green, Deborah Kopansky-Giles, Kristi Randhawa, Christine Cedraschi, Arthur Ameis, Emre Acaroğlu, Ellen Aartun, Afua Adjei-Kwayisi, Selim Ayhan, Amer Aziz, Teresa Bas, Fiona Blyth, David Borenstein, O’Dane Brady, Peter Brooks, Connie Camilleri, Juan M. Castellote, Michael B. Clay, Fereydoun Davatchi, Jean Dudler, Robert Dunn, Stefan Eberspaecher, Juan Emmerich, Jean Pierre Farcy, Norman Fisher-Jeffes, Christine Goertz, Michael Grevitt, Erin A. Griffith, Najia Hajjaj-Hassouni, Jan Hartvigsen, Maria Hondras, Edward J. Kane, Julie Laplante, Nadège Lemeunier, John Mayer, Silvano Mior, Tiro Mmopelwa, Michael Modic, Jean Moss, Rajani Mullerpatan, Elijah Muteti, Lillian Mwaniki, Madeleine Ngandeu-Singwe, Geoff Outerbridge, Shanmuganathan Rajasekaran, Heather Shearer, Matthew Smuck, Erkin Sönmez, Patricia Tavares, Anne Taylor-Vaisey, Carlos Torres, Paola Torres, Alexander van der Horst, Leslie Verville, Emiliano Vialle, Gomatam Vijay Kumar, Adriaan Vlok, William Watters III, Chung Chek Wong, Jessica J. Wong, Hainan Yu, Selcen Yüksel


October 2018, Volume 27, Issue 6, pp 786 - 795 Original Article Read Full Article 10.1007/s00586-018-5723-9

First Online: 27 August 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this report is to describe the Global Spine Care Initiative (GSCI) contributors, disclosures, and methods for reporting transparency on the development of the recommendations.

Methods

World Spine Care convened the GSCI to develop an evidence-based, practical, and sustainable healthcare model for spinal care. The initiative aims to improve the management, prevention, and public health for spine-related disorders worldwide; thus, global representation was essential. A series of meetings established the initiative’s mission and goals. Electronic surveys collected contributorship and demographic information, and experiences with spinal conditions to better understand perceptions and potential biases that were contributing to the model of care.

Results

Sixty-eight clinicians and scientists participated in the deliberations and are authors of one or more of the GSCI articles. Of these experts, 57 reported providing spine care in 34 countries, (i.e., low-, middle-, and high-income countries, as well as underserved communities in high-income countries.) The majority reported personally experiencing or having a close family member with one or more spinal concerns including: spine-related trauma or injury, spinal problems that required emergency or surgical intervention, spinal pain referred from non-spine sources, spinal deformity, spinal pathology or disease, neurological problems, and/or mild, moderate, or severe back or neck pain. There were no substantial reported conflicts of interest.

Conclusion

The GSCI participants have broad professional experience and wide international distribution with no discipline dominating the deliberations. The GSCI believes this set of papers has the potential to inform and improve spine care globally.

Graphical abstract

These slides can be retrieved under Electronic Supplementary Material.[Figure not available: see fulltext.]


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