Multimodal Imaging and Biospecimen Collection for Low Back Pain (LBPB)

Pain intensity will be assessed using the BPI-SF pain severity subscale, consisting of four 0-10 numeric ratings: worst, least, average, and current pain over the past 24 hours. The primary outcome will be the average of these four items. Higher scores indicate greater pain severity.

Pain interference will be measured using the BPI-SF interference subscale, which includes seven items assessing interference with general activity, mood, walking ability, normal work, relations with others, sleep, and enjoyment of life. Each item is scored on a scale of 0 (does not interfere) to 10 (completely interferes). The mean of the seven items will be reported as the interference score.

The PCS consists of 13 items, each rated on a 0 (not at all) to 4 (all the time) scale. Total scores range from 0 to 52, with higher scores indicating greater pain catastrophizing. The total PCS score will be used as the outcome.

Use of this scale is designed to measure psychological and behavioral strategies for how individuals cope with chronic pain. Participants need to rate each item on a scale of 0 (never) to 6 (always), depending on the situation.

This scale is used to assess an individual's mental resilience in response to pain, including the capacity of adaptive, cognitive, affective, and behavioral strategies during the pain experience. Participants need to rate each item on a scale of 0 (never) to 4 (always), depending on the situation.

This scale is used to assess an individual's confidence in managing pain, with higher scores indicating greater confidence in pain management. Participants need to rate each item on a scale of 0 (never) to 6 (always), depending on the situation.

This scale is used to comprehensively assess an individual's level of central sensitization, with higher scores indicating a higher level of central sensitization and greater sensitivity to painful stimuli. Participants need to rate each item on a scale of 0 (never) to 4 (always), depending on the situation.

This scale is used to assess the quality of family relationships and provides insight into the interaction, support, communication, and conflict among family members. Participants need to rate each item on a scale of 0 (Strongly agree) to 6 (Strongly disagree), depending on the situation.

The scale contains 16 questions about pain and pain relief, and each question needs to be scored on a scale of approval, with a scale of 0 to 10 indicating an increase in degree, with higher scores representing greater agreement with the statement.

Dietary patterns will be assessed using a structured dietary questionnaire that includes a food frequency component. Participants report the frequency of consumption of various food groups (e.g., fruits, vegetables, dairy, meats, processed foods) over a defined period. Data will be used to calculate dietary diversity and adherence scores. There is no single summary score; results are used descriptively and for correlation analyses.

Sensory gain or loss will be assessed using Quantitative Sensory Testing (QST) through both mechanical and electrical stimuli applied to multiple body sites (left leg, right leg, lumbar region, left arm, right arm).

Mechanical stimulation will be delivered using Von Frey filaments (0.008g to 300g). The mechanical detection threshold will be recorded in grams. Lower values indicate greater tactile sensitivity.

Electrical stimulation will be administered using surface electrodes with adjustable intensity (0-110 volts). The electrical pain threshold will be recorded in volts. Higher voltage indicates a higher pain threshold.

Participants will also provide subjective ratings of pain unpleasantness on a Numeric Rating Scale from 0 (no unpleasantness) to 10 (most unpleasant imaginable).

An electrical stimulation device (STM200) will be used to administer a series of electrical stimulation of different intensities (voltage range 0-100V) to record the sensations corresponding to the different stimulation intensities. The lower the value, the more sensitive the perception.

The Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) is a validated, self-reported questionnaire used to assess functional disability related to low back pain. It consists of 10 sections measuring limitations in activities such as pain intensity, personal care, lifting, walking, sitting, standing, sleeping, sex life, social life, and traveling.

Each section is scored from 0 to 5, resulting in a total score ranging from 0 to 50, which is then converted to a percentage (0%-100%). Higher scores indicate greater disability.

The SF-36 is a validated, self-administered questionnaire that evaluates health-related quality of life across 8 domains: physical functioning, role limitations due to physical health, role limitations due to emotional problems, vitality, emotional well-being, social functioning, bodily pain, and general health perceptions.

Scores for each domain range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating better health status or functioning. The survey can also be summarized into two component scores: the Physical Component Summary (PCS) and the Mental Component Summary (MCS), both scaled from 0 to 100.

This scale mainly assesses subjective sleep in the past month, including sleep duration, sleep efficiency, sleep medication use, and sleep disorders. The total score ranges from 0-21, with higher scores indicating worse sleep quality.

Polysomnography, a device produced by Compumedics, is used to record and analyze physiological indicators of the human body during sleep, including electroencephalography, electrocardiography, electromyography, electrooculography, oral and nasal airflow, blood oxygen saturation, leg movement, right leg movement, pulse rate, etc.

This scale is used to assess the severity of insomnia symptoms in the past two weeks, including difficulty falling asleep, difficulty maintaining sleep, early waking, and concern about sleep problems. The higher the score, the more serious the insomnia symptoms.

The Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A) is a clinician-administered assessment used to measure the severity of a patient's anxiety. It includes 14 items, each assessing a symptom of anxiety (e.g., tension, fears, insomnia, somatic complaints).

Each item is scored on a scale from 0 (not present) to 4 (severe), producing a total score ranging from 0 to 56. Higher scores indicate more severe anxiety. Scores can be interpreted as:

0-17: mild severity

18-24: mild to moderate severity

25-30: moderate to severe

This scale is used to assess the severity of depressive symptoms. The total score is between 0 and 63. The higher the score, the more severe the depression.

This scale is used to self-assess the severity of depressive symptoms. The total score is between 0 and 27. The higher the score, the more severe the depression.

This scale is used to self-assess the severity of anxiety symptoms. The total score is between 0 and 21. The higher the score, the more severe the anxiety.

This scale is used to assess an individual's feelings of loneliness. Higher scores indicate greater loneliness.

This test consists of 2 parts to assess executive function, attention and processing speed. TMT-A is to make a trail in numerical order; TMT-B is to make a trail from small to large alternating numbers and letters.

This test consists of four colors, "red, blue, yellow, and green," and requires that the meaning of the words be ignored and that choices be made based on the color. It is designed to assess cognitive inhibition and executive function.

This test assesses executive functioning, vigilance, orientation, and other abilities by calculating the choice of arrow direction under different conditions.

This test determines hippocampal functioning by learning a series of images and then categorizing the images, including old images (exactly the same as those that have appeared before); new images (not at all the same as those that have appeared before); and similar images (similar to those that have appeared before but with differences).

This test determines cognitive flexibility by choosing the correct figure out of two patterns where the correct answer is reversed after a certain pattern.

This task focuses on an individual's ability to perceive and understand pain in others and the relationship between pain empathy and the experience of pain in the self.

This task is mainly used to study how individuals actively control pain memory and pain experience.

Fecal specimens will be collected, frozen, and centralized for analysis such as macro-genome sequencing.

Whole blood will be collected, centrifuged to separate plasma and blood cells, and centralized for analysis of inflammatory factors (IL-1β, TNF-α, IL-6, IL-10, TGF-β, etc), high-throughput gene sequencing.

The scale will be used to record subjective sleep. Participants actively reported the time to go to bed, time to wake up, sleep medication use, dim or bright sleep environment, and mental state after waking up.

The MRI scan includes structural imaging (lumbar and head) and functional imaging (Pain Sensitivity Task, Pain Empathy Task, Pain Think/No-Think, Mnemonic Similarity Task, Cognitive Flexibility Task, etc.).

The method is used to record changes in the time interval of the heartbeat, reflecting the degree to which the heart is regulated by the autonomic nervous system.

This scale is used to record whether adverse reactions such as fever, wound infection, vascular/neurologic injury, headache, fatigue, lower extremity swelling occurred.

This scale is used to access the degree of sensitivity to pain. Participants will be given different scenarios and access the most compatible pain intensity on a scale of 0-10.

This scale is a tool used to assess whether an individual experiences somatization symptoms.

This scale is used to assess the participant's feelings of helplessness regarding chronic pain. Participants need to rate each item on a scale of 0 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree), depending on the situation.

This scale is used to assess an individual's ability to control their thinking in response to negative emotions or stress.

This scale is used to assess an individual's ability to empathize with others in pain.

Routine blood count is a test that measures the number and proportion of various cells in our blood, mainly including the number and proportion of red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets.

Depression will be assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), with scores ranging from 0 to 27. Anxiety will be assessed using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) scale, with scores ranging from 0 to 21. Higher scores reflect greater symptom severity.

The PSQI is a self-rated questionnaire that assesses sleep quality over the past month. It yields a global score ranging from 0 to 21, with higher scores indicating poorer sleep quality.

Family functioning will be assessed using the Brief Family Relationship Scale, which evaluates cohesion, expressiveness, and conflict. Each subscale is scored separately; higher cohesion and expressiveness scores and lower conflict scores indicate healthier family dynamics.

Participant's age will be collected at baseline as a continuous variable in years.

Participant's gender identity will be recorded at baseline.

Participant's height measured in centimeters.

Participant's weight measured in kilograms.

Participant's self-identified ethnicity will be recorded at baseline using predefined categories.

Education level will be self-reported using predefined categories (e.g., high school, college, graduate).

Current employment status will be recorded at baseline.

Marital status will be collected at baseline (e.g., single, married, divorced).

Smoking history will be collected at baseline, including current smoking status and past use.

Alcohol consumption history will be collected at baseline (e.g., frequency and amount).

Medical history including relevant comorbidities will be collected at baseline via participant self-report and medical record review.

This item evaluates liver function, renal function, etc. by examining venous blood. The main test items include: alanine aminotransferase, creatinine, urea nitrogen, serum glucose, triglyceride, total cholesterol.

By recording the electrical activity of muscles and nerves, muscle function and peripheral nervous system abnormalities are evaluated.

Collect the range of participants' monthly income, in RMB, for example: no income, 1-999, 1000-1999, 2000-3999, 4000-5999, 6000-7999, 8000-9999, 10000-14999, 15000-19999, 20000-24999, 25000-39999, more than 40000.

Eating habits, including meal frequency, snacking behavior, eating speed, and time of day of food consumption, will be assessed via a behavioral component of the structured dietary questionnaire. Responses are categorical or ordinal, used for descriptive and exploratory correlation analyses without a total score.

Bowel habits will be evaluated using items in the dietary questionnaire that assess bowel movement frequency, stool consistency (e.g., via Bristol Stool Form Scale), and presence of gastrointestinal symptoms. Data are collected as categorical variables and will be used descriptively or to correlate with other outcomes (e.g., microbiome profile).